Bingo in Hemet!

In Hemet, California, there are three groups that are allowed to get a permit to play bingo: a nonprofit charitable organization (not unusual), a senior citizens organization (makes sense), and a mobile home park association (huh?). (Sec. 18-123 of the Hemet City Code)

No Silly Law, Just Dumb People as the Reason For It

Wyoming passed the "Commonsense Consumption Act" (Wis. Stat. § 11-47-101 through -103), which basically states that you cannot sue McDonald's for making you fat.

It provides that there is no civil liability to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, etc., of food products for the long-term consumption of food products causing obesity, or causing conditions related to obesity (such as heart problems, high cholesterol, etc.)

I applaud Wisconsin for this law, but the reason the law exists - the idea that people would sue a fast food restaurant for making them fat when they routinely eat their food - is stupid. It also is a legitimate concern, because stupid people can find and hire lawyers to take this kind of case.

Park Like We Say . . . Or Not

Brentwood, Tennessee has an interesting parking ordinance. Ordinance Sec. 66-287(a) states that you shall not leave a car unattended on a street without setting the brake, turning the car off, removing the ignition key, and "turning the front wheels of such vehicle toward the nearest curb or gutter of the street."

Subsection (b) of the same ordinance states that "every vehicle parked upon a street within the city shall be so parked that its right wheels are approximately parallel to and within 18 inches of the right edge or curb of the street."

So do what we say, not what we say?

No teasing!

In Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis area), it is unlawful to tease an animal (Ord. No. 82, § 10, 11-19-90; Ord. No. 204, § 9, 9-14-98).

Living in a Bawdy House

In California (Ca. Penal Code § 315), it is a crime to "willfully reside" in "a house of ill-fame . . . , resorted to for the purposes of prostitution or lewdness."

So make sure that you don't rent a room in a "house of ill-fame."

No Sunday Hunting in Alabama

According to Alabama Statute § 13A-12-1, shooting or hunting is illegal on Sunday. The penalty is a fine of $10 - $100, AND up to three months of hard labor in the county jail. It is in the code chapter entitled "OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH AND MORALS."

Think this is enforced?

No Silly Law, Just a Dumb Result

According to an article in Governing about the pros and cons of across-the-board cuts to government agencies, such cuts "could just drive greater inefficiency. Desperate to generate savings quickly . . . California furloughed some 200,000 employees for up to three days each month, including the 5,300 employees of the state's tax collection agency who audit and collect state taxes. According to a report from the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, California 'lost $7.15 for every dollar saved through furloughs' through missed tax revenues."

(The report can be found here )

Stopping Discrimination Against Epileptics?

In Utah, Statute § 30-1-2.1 (Enacted in 1963) provides that "All marriages, otherwise valid and legal, contracted prior to the effective date of this act, to which either party was subject to chronic epileptic fits and who had not been sterilized, as provided by law, are hereby validated and legalized in all respects as though such marriages had been duly and legally contracted in the first instance."

So prior to 1963, epileptics were supposed to be sterilized before they could marry?

Do Not Disturb Church Services in Michigan

Michigan Statutes § 752.527 provides the following duty:

"It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, and their deputies, coroners, marshals, constables, and other peace officers, all presiding elders, and ministers of the gospel, deacons, stewards and official members of any church or religious society, who may be present at the meeting of any assembly for religious worship, which shall be interrupted or disturbed in the manner prohibited, on sight to apprehend the offender, and take him or her before the district or municipal court of the judicial district or municipality, to be proceeded against according to law."

So, when it comes to the crime of disturbing a worship service, preachers, priests, rabbis, imams, elders, deacons, and church officials have arrest authority. Not just authority, they have a statutory duty to make the arrest! Sounds like religious organizations in Michigan need a sergeant at arms!

Utah Strip Clubs

In Utah, strip clubs are required to keep the entrance doors unlocked. (Utah Stat. § 32A-1-603(3)(b)(ii))

Outdated Law from the Old South

Mississippi Code Section 37-113-31, dating from 1940, authorizes "a 4-H Club demonstration camp for Negro 4-H Club members" in Madison County. It goes on to say that when 4-H is not using it, "this facility may be rented to other Negro organizations for educational and recreational use only."

Giving the Devil his due, the previous section (37-113-29) has identical language for another 4-H camp in Panola County, with the exception being one contains the word "Negro" and the other does not. Still on the books!

Odd Law of the Day: No Leading Animals in Wisconsin

According to Wisconsin's Criminal Code (§ 951.04), "No person shall lead any animal upon a highway from a motor vehicle or from a trailer or semitrailer drawn by a motor vehicle."

So you cannot hitch up your horse to your tractor and drive down the road with the horse walking or trotting behind? How many people try to lead an animal on the highway from a moving vehicle, anyway?

No Canned Beverages with Removable Caps

In Colorado, "No person shall sell or offer for sale at retail . . . any metal beverage container with a detachable opening device designed to detach from the beverage container when a user opens the beverage container in a manner reasonably calculated to gain access to its contents." (Colo. Stat. § 18-13-113)

So the aluminum Coca-Cola bottles are apparently illegal in Colorado.

Profanely Cursing

In West Virginia, (W. Va. Code § 61-8-15) the law states: "If any person arrived at the age of discretion profanely curse or swear or get drunk in public, he shall be fined by a justice one dollar for each offense."

So, the same penalty for swearing and drunk in public? And it's okay to curse someone in public, as long as you do not profanely curse them?

No Massages Behind Locked Doors

In Baldwin County, Alabama (Ala. Code § 45-2-40.07), "No masseur, masseuse, or other employee or attendant in any massage parlor shall apply or administer any massage or other treatment to any person behind locked doors."

My guess is that this was an attempt at an anti-prostitution law, but it comes across more as people who are afraid that someone else might be relaxing.

Close the Fence!

Wyoming Code § 6-9-202 states, in its entirety: "A person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) if he opens and neglects to close a gate or replace bars in a fence which crosses a private road or a river, stream or ditch."

No Dog-Breeding for Felons

In Illinois, § 720 ILCS 5/12-36 is entitled, "Possession of unsterilized or vicious dogs by felons prohibited." A person convicted of "a forcible felony," various drug-related offenses, or certain other felonies may not have "an unspayed or unneutered dog or puppy older than 12 weeks of age."

If you are a convicted drug dealer, do not despair. The prohibition only lasts for 10 years after release from prison.

Disrupting Church

In Michigan, it is illegal to "promote, aid, or be engaged in any racing of any animals" within 2 miles of a worship service in progress. (Mich. Rev. Stat. § 752.525)

Illegal Possession of a Slingshot

In Nome, Alaska, "No person shall have in his or her physical possession, nor shall discharge, an airgun, bow and arrow, or slingshot within the city," according to Ordinance O-93-6-6.

There are exceptions. This does not apply to "possession or discharging in authorized locations," and authorized locations means "occupied residences, operational vehicles, premises in which such devices are sold or displayed, and facilities designed for indoor charges." So you cannot walk down the street with a slingshot, but you can shoot a bow and arrow or bb gun in your house.

There is also an exception when you are "transporting along a direct course between authorized locations, provided the device is not loaded while en route." So be sure that your bow and arrow is not loaded if you are carrying it in your car to an authorized location!