Wednesday, April 12, 2017

The Worst Tyranny

“Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.” (Edmund Burke)

Every state in the U.S.A. has at least one bizarre legal stipulation that could land residents in trouble if they didn’t comply (and the law was enforced). At one point in the history of each state presented, those laws served some purpose. Enjoy their absurdity today as you wonder at the reason for each one of them (in the state's past).

It is illegal in the state of…

1.  Alabama to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

 
2.  Alaska to whisper in someone’s ear while they are moose hunting.

 

3.  Arizona to cut down a cactus. (Possible twenty-five-year prison term)

 

4.  Arkansas to mispronounce the name of the state.

 

5.  California to eat an orange in a bathtub.

 

6.  Colorado to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor (in the city of Denver).

 
 

7.  Connecticut for pickle to be a pickle unless it bounces.

 

8.  Delaware to get married on a dare.

 

9.  Florida to tie an elephant to a parking meter. (Payment is the same as would be for a vehicle.)

 

10.      Georgia to change the clothes on a storefront mannequin unless the shades are lowered.

 
 

11.      Hawaii for not owning a boat. (Fines may be accessed.)

 

12.      Idaho for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing fewer than fifty pounds.

 
 

13.      Illinois to take a French poodle to the opera (in the city of Chicago).

 

14.      Indiana for the value of the mathematical pi to be recognized as 3.1415 (instead of 4).

 

15.      Iowa for a one-armed piano player to perform for money.

 

16.      Kansas to throw knives at men wearing striped suits (in the city of Natoma).

 

 

17.      Kentucky for every citizen not to take a shower once a year.

 

18.      Louisiana to bite someone with their natural teeth (simple assault). Biting someone with false teeth (aggravated assault).

 

19.      Maine to keep your Christmas decorations on display after January 14 (fine assessed).

 

20.      Maryland to wash or scrub a dirty sink (in the city of Baltimore).

  

21.      Massachusetts to have a gorilla in the backseat of a car.

 

22.      Michigan for a woman to cut her own hair without her husband’s permission.

 

23.      Minnesota to paint a sparrow with the intent of selling it as a parakeet (in the city of Harper Woods).

 

24.      Mississippi to walk a dog without dressing it in diapers (in the city of Temperance).

 

25.      Missouri to buy shotguns, but not toy cap guns (in the city of Kansas City).

 

26.      Montana it’s a felony for a wife to open her husband’s mail.

 

27.      Nebraska for bar owners to sell beer unless they brew a kettle of soup simultaneously.

 

28.      Nevada for men wearing mustaches to kiss women.

 

29.      New Hampshire to sell the clothes you’re wearing to pay off a gambling debt.

 

30.      New Jersey for a man to knit during the fishing season.

 

31.      New Mexico for females to appear with unshaven legs in public (in the city of Carrizozo).

 

32.      New York to talk to anyone in an elevator. (Correct posture involves folded hands as one looks toward the door.)

 

33.      North Carolina to sing off-key.

 

34.      North Dakota to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.

 

35.      Ohio not to honk the horn whenever you pass another car. (According to the state’s driver’s education manual)

 

36.      Oklahoma to take a bite out of another person’s hamburger.

 

37.      Oregon not to drip-dry one’s dishes.

 

38.      Pennsylvania to sleep on the top of an outdoor refrigerator.

 

39.      Rhode Island to bite off another person’s leg.

 

40.      South Carolina for an unmarried man not to keep his promise of marriage to an unmarried woman.

 

41.      South Dakota to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory.

 

42.      Tennessee to sell hollow logs.

 

43.      Texas to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel.

 

 
44.      Utah not to drink milk.

 

45.      Vermont for women not to get written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

 

46.      Virginia to tickle a woman.

 

47.      Washington to pretend that one’s parents are wealthy.

 

48.      Washington, D.C. to post a public notice calling someone a coward for refusing to accept a challenge to duel.

 

49.      West Virginia to ridicule someone who does not accept a challenge (possible six-month prison sentence).

 

50.      Wisconsin to substitute margarine for butter in a restaurant (unless it is specifically requested).

 

51.     Wyoming to take a picture of a rabbit from January to April of the year (unless you have a permit).[i]

 “Every person has free choice. Free to obey or disobey the natural laws. Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did (or ever will) escape the consequences of his choices.” (Alfred A. Montapert)




[i] Sources used:
·       50 Bizarre U.S. Laws You Won't Believe Are Real” by Annie Tucker Morgan

·       “7 Ridiculous Laws against Women” by Katherine Butler

·       “These 10 Crazy Laws in New Mexico Will Leave You Scratching Your Head in Wonder” by Juliet White

 

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