Court hammers Florida sheriff's office for SWAT-style raid to check for barber licenses

An appeals court harshly rebuked the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office over a SWAT-style raid to check for barber licenses, finding it was unreasonable to conduct such an investigation of a second-degree misdemeanor.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that deputies had violated the civil rights of barbers at Strictly Skillz during a 2010 license inspection, reported the Sun-Sentinel.

"It was a scene right out of a Hollywood movie," the court ruled.

The lawsuit is related to a series of sweeps at minority-owned barbershops and salons pairing deputies with the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation to inspect the businesses.
State officials said they targeted shops that had not cooperated during previous inspections or where crimes had been witnessed in the past.
Deputies found illegal activity during the raids, but they arrested dozens for "barbering without an active license" - a little-used statute.
No illegal or unlicensed activities were found at Strictly Skillz, where barbers said eight to 10 masked deputies wearing bulletproof vests raided the shop and cleared out customers during a busy weekend.

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