Tattoo parlor owner fights to stay open
May 6, 1991
The tattoo parlor was not open Friday, but it might be open for business Monday.
Craig Murphy, owner of “Skin of a Different Color,” 345 E. Lincoln Hwy., had until Friday, when the ordinance banning tattooing went into effect, to close his tattoo parlor.
Murphy said he did close the tattoo parlor Friday, Saturday and Sunday because he was not able to get an injunction to keep working after Thursday.
“The injunction gives me the right to work while we’re fighting (for a change in the ordinance),” he said.
“The judge wouldn’t give us an injunction Friday because the city’s attorney was not in town,” Murphy said.
City Attorney Ron Matekaitis was in Florida last week, said City Manager Mark Stevens.
Murphy and his lawyer, Edward Diedrich, will try to get the injunction Monday at 1 p.m., Murphy said.
If the injunction is granted, Murphy said he will continue to give tattoos immediately afterwards.
Murphy said he had to close because “the police kept coming around to make sure I wasn’t giving tattoos.”
The injunction stems from an ordinance approved by the DeKalb City Council that bans tattooing in DeKalb.
Murphy said he will be filing a suit against the city.