Who Knew? An Old Law Shuts Psychics

Philadelphia's fortune-tellers didn't see it coming.

Suddenly they're facing a very unhappy future.

Alerted to an obscure state law banning fortune-telling "for gain or lucre," the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections is closing storefront psychics, astrologers, phrenologists and tarot-card readers who charge money for their services.

Inspectors had closed 16 shops since Tuesday, Deputy L and I Commissioner Dominic E. Verdi said yesterday.

Fortune-telling for profit is a third-degree misdemeanor. The law has been on the books for more than 30 years. Full Story

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