Dumb Laws in US

Dumb Laws

Most people think about the laws of their country, state or city as being there for their own good and to protect either them or those who cannot protect themselves, such as children and animals. However, a look at some of the laws still on the books in our states and cities makes the reader wonder what the lawmakers were thinking when they passed those laws. These "protective" laws may not have actually protected many people or animals from very much.

Some laws are more understandable than others. A number of archaic laws involve what is and is not appropriate clothing, and others govern what is and is not acceptable language. While today we know that in the great majority of cases, both clothing and language are protected under the Constitution, there was a time when lawmakers thought it necessary to restrain both how people dressed and how they spoke.

In the state of New York it is illegal to walk around with an ice cream cone in your pocket. While probably wise advice, it's hard to imagine how having an ice cream cone in one's pocket threatens the general good. However, women may stroll around Manhattan completely topless -- unless they are dressed that way for business purposes. It is, however, illegal to wear "body-hugging clothing. Apparently, according to the law, better a woman go topless than wear a tight sweater. Women's wear is somewhat more constrained in Tucson, Arizona, where women may not wear pants.

At the New York resort of Sag Harbor, apparently they needed to curb people's enthusiasm for swimming, telling them to not disrobe in the street. Hiding in one's automobile or wagon to change was also unacceptable.

Other states and communities became concerned about what constituted men's and women's clothing. In Durango, Colorado, both men and women were required to wear cloths "becoming" to one's sex. In Alabama, pumps with high, sharp heels were banned, because a woman got one caught in a grate, fell, and then sued the city for injuries resulting from her fall. They passed the law to protect themselves from lawsuits. In Nogales, Arizona, it's against the law to wear suspenders.

In Florida, men may not wear strapless gowns in public. In Cape Coral, Florida, if you wash that gown, you may not hang it outside to dry, because it is illegal there to hang one's clothes out to dry outside.

However, in Elko, Nevada, everyone who walks on a public street is required to wear a mask. This is complicated, because in Arizona if a person commits a misdemeanor, it remains a misdemeanor -- unless the offender was wearing a red mask, at which point the crime becomes a felony. Apparently, blue, green or polka-dot masks do not escalate the nature of the crime committed. Since Arizona and Nevada share borders, it might be wise for Nevadans in Elko to avoid purchasing red masks. Arizona has complicated dress laws.

Language is another behavior that many cities and states felt they needed to regulate on public streets. Some laws had a legitimate reason. For instance, in Jonesboro, Georgia, it is illegal to say "Oh Boy!" That sounds pretty silly at first, but as it turns out, after slavery ended, it was common for former owners to call to their slaves by saying "Oh, Boy!" Several would respond, fighting for the right to do whatever job the man had in mind. By forbidding "Oh Boy," the law owners forced the former slave owners to use the former slaves' names, ending the confusion, and fights over the job to be offered.

While today we might argue that we rarely if ever need to be protected from how others dress or speak, most agree that we do need laws to protect our animals, as they can be abused. Some of the rules passed for this purpose seem a bit unusual, however. In Marshalltown, Iowa, the horses must not eat the fire hydrants, while in Idaho, you must not fish from the back of a camel. In Arizona, any donkey caught sleeping in a bathtub is in big trouble, while in Florida you can tie an elephant to a parking meter, but only if you put money in the meter. Some laws regarding animals seem to make no sense at all: in Wyoming, you may photograph rabbits. However, from January to April, you have to have a permit. It's hard to imagine how this protects either the rabbit or the photographer.