OMAHA — A legal setback and potentially “ruinous” state fines have forced a trio of Omaha siblings to at least temporarily rename the family’s “Barber Shop Blackstone,” a speakeasy bar they christened in honor of their longtime hair stylist dad.
Here’s the long and short of it: A state board that oversees the professional barber trade demanded a change, arguing that state law allows only licensed barbers to use the title and display the familiar red, white and blue barber pole.
Mike DiGiacomo and his brother and sister filed a lawsuit in February, alleging that the Nebraska Barber Shop Act violates their First Amendment rights by restricting “non-misleading” commercial speech. They said their marketing made clear that the barber-themed bar served cocktails, not buzz cuts and fades.
But after a federal judge’s April 20 decision to deny the family’s request for a preliminary injunction that could have prevented the state board from pursuing civil or criminal action pending a final resolution, the siblings acquiesced, sort of…