On several occasions, both in my family and in the chatrooms, we got on the subject of silly, pointless or otherwise ridiculous laws, such as in Memphis Tennessee, while not enforced, there's a law saying that a woman can drive only if there's a man walking in front, waving a yellow flag or that, in a certain place in Tennessee, it's illegal to catch a barracuda in your barn (and no, I'm not referring to the muscle car). I believe there was even a mayor in Arkansas that banned a certain river from rising too high. Even sillier is the fact that there's actually a town where it's illegal to walk backwards on your hands across main street.

So, do you have any examples of comedic laws that are no longer enforced?

Disclaimer: I'm just gonna say now that I haven't actually put a lot of time into fact checking these, so if anything above is false, let me know.

My state has a few stupid laws as well.

In Lewes,getting married on a dare is grounds for annulment.

You cannot pretend to sleep on a park bench.

R-rated movies are not be shown in drive-in theaters.

You may not change into or out of a swimsuit in a public restroom.

Alcohol may not be served in establishments that dancing is occurring at the same time.

I actually wrote an article for my high school paper a while ago about this topic... I actually found it the other day, so here it is!


Woops

It's kind of blurry so I don't blame you if you can't read it.

edit - big image so I linked instead

Oldschool777 : R-rated movies at drive-in theaters makes sense. I'm thinking some kids are walking by and they see all the violence, nudity, sex, drug and alcohol abuse up there on the big screen. I buy that law and I'm okay with it.

I think the laws themselves don't pass the test of time and they're irrelevant in our society. Some are silly, some are weird, some have you scratching your head.

The real thing that is interesting to me isn't the laws themselves but the question: "Why did they have to make that a law?"

I wish someone wrote a book that explored the events of daily life where sane people had to make catching barracuda in a barn illegal.

That's a more intriguing conversation.

Anyway, in Michigan, it is illegal to be drunk on trains. Adultery is also illegal but only prosecuted by the state if the aggrieved husband or wife files a complaint. Lastly, men face five years in prison for successful seduction of unmarried women.

I agree with the movies one,but considering most movies are scared to go to an R rating nowadays,that may be null and void. I do not think we even have any drive ins in my state.

I do not think they were worth it even when they were passed. And to answer your question,they probably had nothing better to do or thought they could do anything they wanted.

I think the being drunk on a train one is more for the cops to bust people and make them pay a hefty amount which goes into the city's coffers. So,they could both be cheats as long as neither one files anything...interesting. So,if someone wants to stay out of jail and eat a bullet instead,seduce married women,lol.

In Oklahoma it's illegal to take a bite off of someone else's hamburger.

In Arkansas it's illegal to mispronounce "Arkansas".


A few others I've heard, but don't know where they're from:

A law stating it's illegal to walk backwards down the sidewalk while eating peanuts during a concert.

A law stating it's illegal to practice throwing knife trick acts (where you have someone strapped to a bullseye) when the assistant is wearing a striped shirt (kinda makes sense, but I'd hate to know what mishap prompted this law's creation).

A law stating it's illegal to beat your wife on city hall's steps on Sunday. Isn't it illegal to beat your wife anytime anywhere? I sure hope so.

A law stating a woman cannot walk in public with a bathing suit on unless accompanied by two men.

Finally, a law that states that you cannot bathe naked. -__- The latter I'm told was formed when people still bathed outside in washtubs, so it made sense back then. I figure a lot of these laws did. Some there's just no excuse for though. Lol



Lord Leggy - King of IT : Dontcha just hate it when you see a fire hydrant minding it's own business suddenly get eaten by a savage horse? Scandalous.

Lord Leggy - King of IT : Oh man.... I almost fell out in the floor when I read some of those, but it's also disturbing that they exist. Every single one of those has to have a story behind it...

Ghostbear1111 : That makes total sense. I mean, who wants a bunch of drunks on the train? They should obviously be driving. I had also heard that there were a couple places where adultery was illegal, but never knew where that was. As far as seduction goes, that's basically what makes up 50% of dating here....

Eirinn : I literally always intentionally pronounce Arkansas as "Are kanzis". If I go inactive, I've been extradited. And the law on beating your wife on Sunday on the church steps is both hilarious and saddening...

m0ssb3rg935 :

When I was researching the article, I actually found about 20 laws for each state that was... odd and just narrowed it down to 2 or 3 for each one. I loved the stupid ones that were impossible.

I forget which state it was, but it's illegal to walk backwards down a street, with an ice cream cone in your pocket. (There are plenty using the last bit, for whatever reason)

There are quite a few silly laws in Quebec: margarine has to be white, there are minimum prices for milk and beer, radio stations have to play 60 percent French music during peak hours on weekdays, commercial signs have to have French twice as large as any other language (aimed mostly at English), tenants have "the right" to refuse rent increases, institutional book buying (government, schools, etc.) has to be done in a local bookstore - they can not accept gift and have to pay for any book... And now someone can be fined for making "a joke so mean it can not be considered funny."

I would be fined daily in Quebec then. Most of my jokes fall on the mean/sarcastic/sexist/etc.,side of the fence.

Another crazy law I found.

m0ssb3rg935 : It was actually city hall's steps I think. But yes, it's definitely sad. I can only hope the punishment was to have a guy twice your size beat the stuffing out of you on City Hall's steps. You'd deserve it if you hit your wife imo. Nothing more disgusting than a man that hurts a woman or any adult that hurts children, at least not by my estimation.

janus : Isn't "it cannot be considered funny" a bit subjective? How is that determined? Repeating it before a jury and seeing if anyone laughs?

Oldschool777 : And how, pray tell, does one get a doctor's note for a tattoo? xD

Maybe it is to cover a scar or something. I would not know how they get a note for that,but if you have a good reason,I am sure your doctor will do it,of course that is a doctor's visit on top of a tattoo.

Eirinn : Never try to understand senseless judgements, especially in Quebec. Just like other places with social justice warriors, hurting ANYONE's feeling, especially if they are part of a favored minority or you can pity them, is bound to this nonsense