Before the COVID-19 pandemic, patients of therapist Elizabeth Brokamp could drive from D.C. to her office in Burke, Virginia, to see her in person.
Brokamp is professionally licensed in Virginia but not D.C. During the pandemic, sessions were moved online because of social distancing. D.C. relaxed some restrictions related to a law requiring counselors delivering services in D.C. be specifically licensed there, but those exemptions were very limited and Brokamp had to turn away many clients.
That prompted her to file a lawsuit through the Institute for Justice, claiming her First Amendment right of free speech was being violated.
On Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with her and struck down the District’s law, saying Brokamp’s right to free speech supersedes the District’s effort to regulate mental health counselors.
“It came out of the blue after six years, so I was really excited,” Brokamp told 海角精品黑料. “It’s very difficult to explain to someone why state lines are applicable over teletherapy,” Brokamp said about the D.C. law. “I have to follow this licensing law that says that technically I can’t talk to you because you’re over a line, but it’s imaginary,” she said.
“The problem is D.C. got rid of its pandemic waiver,” said Brokamp’s attorney Robert McNamara. “If they [her clients] drove across the Key Bridge and called her, she was perfectly free to talk to them about their emotional problems. But since they were sitting in D.C., her conversations became a crime,” McNamara said.
In the decision, the court held that because Brokamp, who uses talk therapy for her clients, was prohibited from talking to them, the law was unconstitutional.
“She just talks to people about their struggles and emotional problems and ways they might cope with them,” McNamara said. “It seemed to us that the first amendment doesn’t allow Washington, D.C. to get a license to have a conversation,” he said.
While pleased with the ruling, Brokamp is cautious.
“I personally would not feel comfortable right this minute accepting a client from D.C.,” said Brokamp. “Even though I have a great document that says that I won the case, there’s the appeals process,” she said.
It is not clear yet whether the District will appeal the case.
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