Charles Butler is your typical Aryan Brotherhood, white supremacist, loser.  He is facing a Federal Civil Rights trial for beating up  black man.  To bolster their case the FBI and US Attorney are claiming that various tattoos adorning his body are indicative of “white supremacy,” and therefore support the contention that Butler is a racist, confederate-flag/confederate-flag-white-supremacy.

I am not a fan of tattoos.  I am, however, a fan of the First Amendment. When it comes to tattoos I think there are two ways to interpret them one is a sure looser and the second may work it certain circumstances. I think reading a tattoo and taking it at face value is coming dangerously close to a free speech violation.

A tattoo is forever or close enough for government work.  A confederate flag obtained twenty years in the past is a snapshot of how the individual felt about the flag at the time it was applied, but may or may not reflect current thinking.  The racist opinion may be entirely in the eye of the beholder, and may have an entirely different meaning to the possessor.

A specialized police unit of my acquaintance decided to get a tattoo that commemorated a specific event. Included in the design was the distinctive “ZZ Top” lightening bolts,

only instead of being horizontal the lightening bolts were vertical.   It wasn’t long before an outsider saw a tattoo on one of the officers.  The shit hit the fan. The complaint alleged that the tattoo was built around the Nazi and SS twin lightening bolts.  That’s all it took.

There is grist for a learned paper in this story.  Apparently the rapid shriveling of testicles to the size of raisins, also contributes to deafness, and the ability to comprehend logical thought.

Go to any county jail or police department that has a gang unit and you will find the penultimate cop expert on reading gang tattoos. In their world “Woody Woodpecker” isn’t a wise cracking woodpecker, but a snarling “Peckerwood” proud white supremacist. The tear drops from the outside corner of the eye either indicate the number of kills carried out by the individual for the gang or maybe it is how many associates the individual mourns.

A suburb of San Antonio had one of its officers murdered, while off duty. He had extensive tattoos up and down both arms and front and back on his torso.  He was not shy about showing them off.  While his fellow officers never figured it out, the FBI and Mexican Mafia knew where his true allegiance lie.  That is why the FBI had a covert camera positioned to record the execution by the Mexican Mafia of their errant soldier.

I spoke of a second way to look at tattoos.  Tattoos represent an expense and sometimes a very considerable expense.  The first thing that comes o mind is: ‘How much?” Followed by: “here did the money come from?”  If the tattoo artist got his money that month and the auto finance company didn’t, I think it is reasonable to question the individual’s priorities.

Do tattoos on the face bear discussing?  This seems like a no brainer as an indicator of: impulse control, planning and organizing, job knowledge (for any job), communication skills, supervision, and leadership.

I think any employer, using a little common sense could set preferences to eliminate anybody in their workforce from displaying visible tattoos. Whether this is desirable or not, I leave that to others to decide.  The action by the US Attorney in Ohio is likely to have far ranging consequences for very little return.