Pete's 2nd letter to State Senator Gard dated September 30, 2001:

Senator Beverly J. Gard

Good morning Senator Gard,

About a year ago I wrote you a letter expressing my concerns about the Hypnotist Certification Law (Enclosed) and you were kind enough to respond with your understanding of the law (Also enclosed) and to send a copy of the law for my records.

With your reply stating that, "The law does not require that those who engage in hypnotism in Indiana be certified.  They just cannot claim to be certified unless they are certified under Indiana Law.", I felt that perhaps the law was OK in that it would not prohibit folks like myself from practicing hypnotism, I just couldn't claim to be "certified".

Then comes the Sunday paper and the enclosed news story from New Castle.  Now God forbid that the news media would ever get a story wrong but there is no mention in the story that the 2 men conducting the seminar ever claimed to be "Certified".  The reporter also used the insulting phrase, "self professed" to describe the men.  The last paragraph is particularly disturbing in the statement that the "group had been warned about the need for state certification."

There is something wrong here.  It doesn't meet with the points of your first letter or of my understanding of your first letter.  I won't go over the points from my first letter again but I must strongly object to this law once again.  It is a waste of taxpayer's time and money and smells vaguely like a witch-hunt conducted out of fear of the unknown.

I am a hypnotist.  I will continue to say it.  I will not claim that I am certified.  As always, the power of some small, seemingly insignificant law becomes a dangerous thing for our freedoms.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my first letter and for taking time to read this one.

Sincerely,

Pete Jefferson

End of letter.  Return to previous page.