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The high court's action, made without comment by the
justices, ends a years-long case over fish pedicures, which have
become a popular alternative to exfoliation for some spa-goers
in recent years but are banned in some U.S. states for health
and safety reasons.
The procedure involves customers placing their feet in a water
tank filled with toothless Garra rufa fish, also known as doctor
fish, which suck the dead tissue off their feet to leave them
feeling softer.
Cindy Vong, who has operated a nail salon in the Phoenix suburb
of Gilbert since 2006, introduced the treatment in 2008. She
imported fish from China and remodeled her business to create a
separate fish spa area.
In 2009, Vong was told by the Arizona Board of Cosmetology that
the treatment violated the agency's safety standards, and that
she could face criminal charges.
The board said any tool or equipment used in a pedicure must be
stored and disinfected in a specific way, and that she could not
disinfect the fish coming in contact with clients' skin.
Later that year, Vong closed the fish spa part of her salon, and
the Phoenix-based conservative Goldwater Institute filed a
lawsuit against the board in state superior court on her behalf.
Vong's lawsuit argued that the board had exceeded its statutory
authority by unconstitutionally applying regulations to her
business, and said it should have considered an alternative to
banning the practice outright.
It also accused the board of violating her constitutional rights
to due process, equal protection and the privileges and
immunities afforded to everyone to make a living.
After a lengthy legal fight, Judge Margaret Downie, writing for
a unanimous panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals, ruled in May
2014 that the board acted within its powers.
Downie wrote that the board made a "considered, deliberative
decision about whether and how to regulate fish pedicures," and
that its action did not put Vong out of business.
The state's Supreme Court affirmed that ruling, and so Vong had
taken her appeal to the justices of nation's top court.
(Reporting by Daniel Wallis in Denver; Editing by Will Dunham)
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