In Staff Report: Are those weird laws you hear about for real?, GFactor uses the wrong term.
Malum in se is something that is inherently wrong. It means “evil in itself”.
Malum prohibitum is the term you want to use.
That’s correct. I had them switched. Thanks.
I changed the thread title to weird laws so that we can keep all of the comments on the column in one thread.
Gfactor
General Questions Moderator
In the late 60’s/early 70’s in Arkansas on Sundays it was legal to buy black or brown shoelaces at the local drug store, but not blue. Of course, being a smart-aleck kid I had to ask why. The pharmacist/owner said that his guidance booklet said that black or brown shoes were appropriate to wear to church, but blue shoes were primarily work attire.
I recall it as a dizzying array of things that could or could not be purchased.
Some of this sounds like it would fit in a Monty Python skit or something:
“'Ello sir, might I have some of those blue shoes.”
“No, sorry.”
“Well, why not?”
“It’s Sunday!”
“Then why are you open!?”
“You can buy some fo these brown shoes, or maybe black ones.”
“Okay, but if I can buy those why not the blue ones.”
“It’s Sunday.”
Continue in same flow for five minutes.
I’m a little disappointed that GFactor didn’t mention the most common explanation for the weird laws you see in those e-mail lists: The person who wrote the list just made them up.
I was just about to say the same thing. As a lark, I researched many of the “weird laws” that are commonly thrown around and many don’t exist.
Among the common non-existant laws -
California: Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses.
Arizona: It is illegal to hunt camels.
Washington: All motor vehicles must be preceded by a red flag during the day and a red lantern at night.
Alaska: It is illegal to view a moose from an airplane. (Interestingly, Title 16 Chapter 5 is the Fish and Game Code Section 790 makes it illegal to obstruct a person’s view of game.)
Idaho: It is illegal for a person to give another person a box of candy weighing more than 50 lbs.
South Carolina: It is legal to beat you wife on the court steps on a Sunday.
Alabama: It is illegal to drive blindfolded. (However Section 32-5A-53 deals with passengers obstructing a driver’s view)
Massachusetts: It is illegal for mourners to eat more than 3 sandwiches.
Florida: It is illegal to shower naked.
Iowa: Kisses cannot last for more than 5 minutes.
Ohio: It is illegal to get a fish drunk. (Unless you are getting it drunk to make it easier to catch. That violates ORC 1533.37)
Nebraska: It is illegal to sleep naked in a hotel or motel.
Utah: It is illegal to NOT drink milk.
Kentucky: One must take a bath once a year.
Vermont: It is illegal to whistle underwater.
Minnesota: It is illegal to come into the state with a duck on your head. (But Eurasian wild pig or a game fish on your head would be an illegal importation)
Tennesee: Eight women cannot live together as that constitutes a brothel.
**NONE of these are real laws. **
The sad part is there are many weird laws that do exist.
New Mexico: Idiots are not allowed to vote. (State Constitution Article VII Section 1, written in 1911 when “Idiot” denoted someone with an IQ of less than 20.
Alaska: It is illegal to possess table salt. (Because hydrochloric gas is used in the production of methamphetamines, Alaska Code Section 11.71.200 makes it illegal to posess any salts of it. One of these salts is sodium chloride, otherwise known as common table salt.)
Arizona: You can be younger than your adopted child. (Arizona Revised Statutes 8-102 states that any person 21 years or younger can be adopted, yet ARS 8-101 says that anyone 18 or older is an adult. Since ARS 8-103 allows any adult resident to adopt, you can be up three years younger than the child that you adopt.)
Georgia: You must be a registered voter to hold elected office. (The Georgia State Constitution Article II Section II Paragraph III gives the disqualifications for holding a state office. The FIRST disqualification (even before being a convicted felon) is not being a registered voter.)
Idaho: Idaho makes it illegal for one spouse to abandon the other and leave them destitute but only men can be punished - women can’t. (Although Idaho Statute 18-401(3) outlawing spousal abandonment is written in gender neutral language, Idaho Statutes 18-402, 18-403, and 18-404 which punishes spousal abandonment is written so that only an abandoned wife can receive support. As written, husbands do not need to be supported if their wife abandons them.)
Indiana: It is illegal to sell alcohol on Election Day (Indiana Code 7.1-5-10-1 gives the days that alcohol sales are prohibited.)
Kentucky: If you want to sell fowl under two months of age, you must sell a minimum of 6. (Kentucky Revised Statutes 436.600 in the “Offenses Against Morality” section)
Minnesota: It is illegal to sell a 6 pound bag of flour. (Minnesota Statute 239.51 makes it a crime to sell flour in a pre-packaged size other than 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, or 100 pounds. Sizes that are less than 3 lbs or multiples of 100 pounds are also allowed.)
This one doesn’t surprise me at all. In many countries, there is no age limit to be adopted, and I would suspect that in a number of those there’s no requirement that the person adopted should be younger.
Adoption isn’t intended solely for children.
Nitpick: In Indiana it is illegal to sell alcohol while the polls are open. Usually, there is robust business in the taverns at 6:00 PM, as the polls close. At about 5:50 the bartender will take orders, prepare the drinks and then dispense them at the stroke of 6:00.
IC 7.1-5-10-1
(3) On primary election day, and general election day, from 3:00 o’clock in the morning, prevailing local time, until the voting polls are closed in the evening on these days.
Nice work. Although you can find many of these attributed to multiple jurisdictions, and to be fair, some could be local ordinances or outdated statutes or ordinances. While it’s still a true proposition that they aren’t real laws as described, they might still exist, or they might have existed before the last recodification of the statutes.
The sad part is there are many weird laws that do exist.
What part of this is weird? That the State Constitution uses the word “idiot”? That New Mexico hasn’t amended it? Or that they don’t let the severely retarded vote?
http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title11/Chapter71/Section200.htm
The bolded section is where it talks about hydrochloric gas. I don’t see where it bans sodium chloride or salts of hydrochloric acid gas. In fact, Section 15 lists several substances whose salts are banned, but not that one. Under the doctrine of expressio unius est exclusio alterius, it’s unlikely that a court would interpret this statute to bar salts of substances that aren’t specifically listed.
So does that make you one of those folks who “just made up” a law? 
Right. Many on the weird list aren’t that weird to me.
This one is very popular and I believe it’s long since spread around the country as an urban legend. I heard this one in college as an alleged local law, and I didn’t go to college in Tennessee.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some variation of this law which was real–and was probably repealed or replaced. I’ll check my historical sex law books when I get home.
“Historical sex law books”? you have a collection of them? I didn’t realise that was a recognised area of practice in Michigan!
Don’t you?
What!?! A guy can’t have a hobby? 
I can find no definition of “Hydrochloric gas” other than gaseous anhydrous HCl.
Correctomundo:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/rules/2001/fr0816.htm (Emphasis added.)
And a salt is “a compound in which metal atoms (or electro positive radicals e.g ammonium) replace one or more of the replaceable hydrogen atoms of an acid.” http://www.students.stir.ac.uk/biology/ionpot/salt.htm
That’s a different compound. The statute bans some salts and some chemicals *and their *salts. It does not ban table salt.
The line “(15) any salt, optical isomer, or salt of an optical isomer of the following chemicals:” only refers to the chemicals A-H immediately below it. Hydrochloric gas is 22 on the list, at the same level as the “any salt…” listing, so salts of hydrochloric gas aren’t covered.
It’s still a somewhat silly thing to ban: Stomach acids and many cleaning solutions contain aqueous HCl, and whereever you have the aqueous solution, you’re going to also have some vapor pressure of the gas. Does the law say anything about “reasonable quantities”, or the like?
IANAL, but it appears that “listed chemicals” are only referred to in AS 11.71.020. Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, which says that
So (I infer) possessing the cemicals is not a crime, it’s possession coupled with the intent to manufacture meth that’s the crime.
(remove double post)
I think that’s right. These same statutes cover Sudafed and some other items that one might possess for innocent reasons.