-
Compared to most
other states, Idaho appears to have fewer dumb laws. But the state
isn’t exempt from silly legislation.
-
Forget about riding a
merry-go-round on Sundays; it’s a crime.
-
Although repealed in
the past few years, this one must have made confectioners happy for
decades. A box of candy given by a man to his sweetheart had to weigh
fifty pounds or more. Anything under fifty pounds was illegal.
-
If you’re in a bad
mood don’t go out of the house. A person can’t be seen in public
without a smile on their face.
-
In 1912 a law was
passed stating “The carrying of concealed weapons is forbidden, unless
some are exhibited to public view.”
-
The police are polite
if they suspect people are making love in a car. He must honk or flash
his lights and wait three minutes before approaching the vehicle.
-
It’s illegal to ride
your motorcycle if you are 88 years old or older.
-
Don’t fall asleep in
a dog kennel, that’s against the law.
-
Planning to fish from
the back of a camel or giraffe? You will break the law if you do.
-
You can’t fish from
horseback in Utah, but it looks like you can fish from the back of a
giraffe or camel.
-
It’s illegal not
to drink milk.
-
You can marry a first
cousin when you reach the age of 50. It’s not illegal to have nuclear
weapons, but it’s illegal to ignite them.
-
Birds have the right of
way on all Utah highways.
-
Whale hunting is an
offense in this inland state.
-
You must ask for the
wine list in a restaurant, or it’s not legal to serve you wine with
your meals.
-
Alcoholic beverages
can’t contain more than 3.2 percent alcohol.
-
Nightclubs can only get
a liquor license if they claim they are a “real” club or
association, and not a for-profit business.
-
Alcohol cannot be sold
during an emergency.
-
If you’re not a
retailer you cannot possess beer in containers bigger than two liters.
-
If you persist in
walking on the cracks between paving stones on the sidewalk of a state
highway you are committing a felony.
-
It’s a crime to curse
on a bus.
-
Women cannot swear.
-
No dancing cheek to
cheek. Daylight must be seen between dancers.
-
No lovemaking in the
back of a moving ambulance. The woman can be charged with a sexual
misdemeanor and “her name published in the local newspaper.” Nothing
happens to the man.
-
Falsely accusing a
woman of being unchaste is slander and punishable by up to six months in
jail and a fine of
-
$1,000.
-
If a woman commits a
criminal act in the presence of her husband, he is responsible.
-
There’s a $50 fine
for snowball throwing.
-
You cannot carry a
violin in a paper bag while walking down the street.
-
Pharmacists cannot sell
gunpowder to cure headaches.
-
But blind people and
quadriplegics have the right to hunt. Killing an on-duty poultry
inspector can bring the death penalty.
-
Consenting, but
unmarried, adults who make love can be jailed for six months and fined
$1,000.
-
If you alter the
license plate stickers on your car you could receive a 15-year prison
sentence and fined $10,000.
-
A drive-by shooting is
punishable by five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
-
Boxing matches allowing
biting are not allowed.
-
Despite the fact
that all 40 school districts in Utah forbid corporal punishment, parents
can give written permission for teachers to spank their kids.
-
Raffles are defined by
law as illegal lotteries. However, they are routinely used by charities
and nonprofit groups for fundraisers.
-
It is illegal to cause
a catastrophe.
-
Auctions can’t be
advertised by hiring trombone players to play on the street.
-
Forget about buying a TV on Sunday in
Spokane. It's illegal. Buying any kind of meat on Sunday in Washington
is also against the law as is purchasing a mattress.
-
This is a tricky one. A man may be
looking at five years of jail time for "deflowering" a virgin.
This is against the law regardless of the woman's age or marital status.
Think about it.
-
It is against the law to paint polka dots
on Old Glory.
-
All lollipops are forbidden.
-
If you are driving a motorized vehicle
toward a town or city and have "criminal intentions" it is
"mandatory" that you stop before entering the city limits and
telephone the chief of police.
-
It's illegal to pretend that your parents
are wealthy.
-
One of my favorites is so nonsensical I
would like to know the inner workings of the minds that came up with
this. When two trains come to a crossing, neither can go until the other
has passed.
-
In Bremerton you can't "shuck"
peanuts on the street.
-
If you live in Everett don't plan to put
a hypnotized person, or even a supposedly hypnotized person, in a store
window.
-
In Lynden you cannot dance and drink in
the same establishment.
-
In Seattle you can get in trouble with
the law if you carry a concealed weapon over six feet long.
-
And when riding a bus, women cannot sit
on men's laps without a pillow between them.
-
No one can set fire to another person's
property without asking permission.
-
You are breaking the law in this state if
you drive while asleep.
-
It is illegal to gather and
"consume" road kill.
-
At night a man with a lantern must go
about 100 yards ahead of a "motor car."
-
A law in Vancouver requires all
"motor vehicles" to carry an anchor to be used as the
emergency brake.
-
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So
who is the judge of equines in Wilbur where it's against the law to ride
an "ugly" horse?
-
Think these laws are odd, ludicrous and
outdated? Ordinance Number 7, passed June 7, 1995 in San Juan County
states that eight women may not reside in the same house because doing
so would "constitute a brothel." It must not be a college
county.
HUMOR 