# Are there states where something is uniquely illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195 "2021-08-07T14:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/223 "2022-09-07T16:29:06Z")
Customers would disregard the auto shut-off and try to top off their tanks. Sometimes they would do something to the handle to block it and walk away from the pumps. Some of us got into the habit of wordlessly shutting off the pump if we noticed nobody was outside at it while filling. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/224 "2022-09-07T17:05:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I assume they would clean up spills to keep the job they only have because it’s supposed to provide a wider public benefit. Somebody has to clean up those spills or the those jobs could easily disappear. Reread what I originally wrote. I’m not talking about pools of gasoline. I was talking about when people overfill their tank or move the nozzle around carelessly. The amount of gas being spilled in each incident is only a cup or two. I really doubt any gas station is going to have a policy of cleaning up each of those small gas spills. But if these incidents are common, those small amounts quickly add up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/225 "2022-09-07T17:09:56Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > That went away, got to be 21 now and grocery stores sell real beer only. I remember back when New York raised the age you could buy beer from eighteen to twenty-one. They grandfathered in everyone who was already past the original restriction. So my brother who had just turned eighteen before the law went into effect was able to keep buying beer. Our friend who was only a few weeks younger had to wait three years before he could legally buy beer. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/226 "2022-09-07T17:19:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Our friend who was only a few weeks younger had to wait three years before he could legally buy beer. But he was privileged: he could ask his buddy, your brother, to buy him beer 😀. Don’t tell me it didn’t turn out that way. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/227 "2022-09-07T17:20:12Z")
CA was always 21. When the change happened, I took a road trip from San Diego to Dallas with my roommate. We left in late December, saw the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New Year Day and then drove back. I had just turned 21 and my roomie was still 20. We drove through AZ, NM and into TX. I can’t remember which was which but at least one of those states had the grandfather rule and one had a hard change. So on the way down, the roomie could buy beer in one of the states but not on the way home. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/228 "2022-09-07T17:29:55Z")
That grandfathering may have happened when NY raised the drinking age from 18 to 19 in 1982 ( which I remember because I turned 19 that year). When it changed to 21 in 1985. [19 and 20](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/19/nyregion/new-york-raising-its-drinking-age-to-21-in-december.html) year- olds could no longer legally buy beer or other alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/229 "2022-09-07T17:42:13Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > That grandfathering may have happened when NY raised the drinking age from 18 to 19 in 1982 ( which I remember because I turned 19 that year). When it changed to 21 in 1985. [19 and 20](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/19/nyregion/new-york-raising-its-drinking-age-to-21-in-december.html) year- olds could no longer legally buy beer or other alcohol I was talking about the 1982 law. Apparently I forgot the details. Our friend only had to wait until his 19th birthday not his 21st. It was forty years ago and the law didn’t affect me. ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/230 "2022-09-07T17:52:03Z")
Our city has Prostitution Exclusion Zones, and no it is not legal else where in the city. ---
**Author:** ![de\_Worde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@de\_Worde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/de_Worde)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/231 "2022-09-08T17:01:11Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Basically there are no snakes in Hawaii Huh. Didn’t the flight in “Snakes on a Plane” depart from Hawaii? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/232 "2022-09-08T17:10:19Z")
They were all on the plane. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/233 "2022-09-09T02:44:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@nightshadea](#): > > > > Also at one time it was illegal to eat an orange in a mo/hotel room > > Why was that? For the life of me I can’t imagine a single reason for it. To avoid stains on the bed sheets? I’ve seen an analysis of this story. I can’t find it right now, so this is from memory. @EinsteinsHund has misquoted the legend, which was a misinterpretation of the law in the first place. The legend is that guests aren’t allowed to _peel_ an orange in their rooms. The reality is different. The law prevented the hotel from using guest bedrooms for storing or preparing food for consumption. This would, technically speaking, forbid hotel staff from peeling an orange in a bedroom if they intended to sell it later. But it never prevented guests from peeling their own oranges. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/234 "2022-09-12T11:34:54Z")
Some states allow the driver to have an open container of alcohol, and thus means it’s illegal in others. Being naked in public is legal in Vermont but illegal if you cross into the boarder states that way. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/235 "2022-09-12T18:00:39Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Some states allow the driver to have an open container of alcohol, and thus means it’s illegal in others. Just one state, I think. > All but one state, Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have laws that prohibit the consumption or possession of open containers of alcohol while in a motor vehicle. Mississippi and the Virgin Islands do not have statutes regulating the consumption or possession of alcohol in motor vehicles. > **[Policy Research](https://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/open-container-and-consumption-statutes)** > > NCSL’s experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. We answer more than 20,000 requests for information a year. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/236 "2022-09-12T22:07:01Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Being naked in public is legal in Vermont but illegal if you cross into the boarder states that way. It depends on how naked you are and which state border you cross. New York does not have a law against women (or men) being topless in public (unless it’s part of a commercial transaction). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/237 "2022-09-12T23:49:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > New York does not have a law against women (or men) being topless in public (unless it’s part of a commercial transaction). I believe NY does have a law that woman can’t go topless, just it was stuck down, but it’s still on the books. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/238 "2022-09-12T23:52:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I believe NY does have a law that woman can’t go topless, just it was stuck down, but it’s still on the books. Yes, laws against women being topless in public were challenged in 1992 and New York’s court system decided such laws were unconstitutional on the grounds that they applied to women and not men. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/239 "2022-09-13T16:17:17Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It used to be illegal to sell alcohol in Colorado on Sundays. Still illegal for car dealerships to be open on Sunday. Heaven forbid people be able to spend time shopping for a major purchase on a weekend day. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/240 "2022-09-13T16:28:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes, laws against women being topless in public were challenged in 1992 and New York’s court system decided such laws were unconstitutional on the grounds that they applied to women and not men. I believe SCOTUS ruled similarly making it nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/241 "2022-09-13T16:46:57Z")
My understanding is that those industry-specific laws often remain because the industry is in favor of them - I’ve heard car dealers in particular oppose overturning such laws because 1. If one dealership opens seven days a week, they will all have to or they will lose business to those that open on Sunday. 2. Allowing dealerships to open on Sunday won’t increase total sales but will increase overhead, so there will be less profit. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/242 "2022-09-13T17:30:23Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Still illegal for car dealerships to be open on Sunday. Heaven forbid people be able to spend time shopping for a major purchase on a weekend day. Right. That’s pretty nutso too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195.md?page=13)