Did you know the age of sexual consent in California but that you can get married at ANY age with parental permission?
Do you know any other crazy laws?
Whoops!
Did you know the age of sexual consent in California but that you can get married at ANY age with parental permission?
Do you know any other crazy laws?
Third time a charm?
Did you know the age of sexual consent in California is 18 but that you can get married at ANY age with parental permission?
Do you know any other crazy laws?
It’s a $500 fine to set off nuclear devices in LA city limits.
Okay I have a few…
In BC it is illegal to kill a sasquatch.
In New Brunswick driving on the roads is not allowed.
In Uxbridge Residents are not allowed to have an Internet connection faster than 56k.
For a whole list of Dum Laws go to www.dumblaws.com/index.shtml
It’s illegal for your cammels (yes, the animal) to roam free in Galveston, TX.
In Utah or Idaho it’s illegal to walk around with an ice cream cone in your pocket.
I heard once that it was illegal in the District of Columbia to shot fish from horseback with a bow-and-arrow.
And…unless it’s been changed, swearing over a ham radio is a federal felony.
At one time it was quite legal for a hunter using a longbow to kill any individual after shouting the warning “loose”.
To prevent this any concealed person was supposed to shout “fast”.
Gamekeepers were known to go into the Royal Forests and if they suspected there were any poachers would give the warning. Since the penalties for poaching were very severe the poacher would take a gamble that the gamekeeper had not seen them.
This is the origin of the saying ‘playing fast and loose’
casdave:
Interesting. Sounds like something Cecil could do a column on. casdave do you have any more information this story or can you provide a cite for it?
I have a list of these on my site. Apparently a few are bullshit, but I have a list nonetheless.
Oh. And in Saskatchewan it’s illegal to drink water in a bar, and to own an ugly horse.
Personal Favourite:
Seattle – You may not carry a concealed weapon that is over six feet in length.
>>>lswote wrote: “Did you know the age of sexual consent in California is 18 but that you can get married at ANY age with
parental permission?”<<<
I let this get by me the first time, but this isn’t necessarily a crazy law. There’s at least one other state which has no set minimum age for marriage with consent, parental or judicial (I believe it is Mississippi), and several others which have minimum ages below 16 (which is more or less the standard). Two of these latter (Massachusetts and Kansas, I think) have minimum ages of 12 for girls. Also, a number of states with higher minimum ages have an exception if the minor is female and pregnant–the idea being it’s better to have a marriage in that case than to have him in prison and her all screwed up. There was a case of that a year or so ago in Maryland or Virginia (I think), where some guy in his late 20s married his pregnant 13-year-old girlfriend.
Most or all of the states with low minimum ages have higher ages of consent. But marriage is a protected condition; the fact of a marriage would override age of consent, so these laws do not have the effect of creating a class of temporarily sexless marriages. As for how many 12 and 13-year-olds–or 8 and 9-year-olds–get married under these laws, I have no idea.
We in Massachusetts have some wacky ones:
The fine for knocking over a stone wall is $10: http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/266-105.htm
Also illegal is fornication (3 months/$300): http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/272-18.htm
Blasphemy (1 year/$300): http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/272-36.htm
And finally, my personal favorite, being a vagabond. Lets see this one be upheld (can you say void-for-vaugeness?):
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/272-68.htm