You would be astounded and often bent over in laughter were you to browse an inventory of the odd / bizarre / weird bylaws that are still on the books in many states , provinces , cities and towns throughout North America. For example it is still illegal to sing off key in public in North Carolina...... to shoot rabbits from a boat in Kansas , to possess lifelike dildos in Texas , to urinate within 20 paces of a public way in Trois - Rivières , Québec , to sell booze while dressed in a Santa Claus suit in Ohio !! etc
The following qotation is from page 22 of Will Durant's "Caesar and Christ ".
"The law of the early Republic allowed a creditor to imprison a persistently defaulting debtor in a private dungeon , to sell him into slavery , even to kill him. Joint creditors might , said the law , cut up the corpse of the defaulting debtor and divide it among them----- a provision apparently never enforced. "
Applied to modern times I can just imagine the guy from the collection agency or the Repo Guy at some poor devil's front door armed with a sawed - off shotgun and chain saw
P.S. I put in a pic of my son Kevin before the Roman Coliseum to give my blog about Roman Law a tidbit of credibility ! He was with me there in 1986.
Makes one wonder what or who prompted some of those by-laws. I have an old old book of them from my town. Some are pretty stupid but fun reading!!
ReplyDeleteLOL.......I had something in mind to say but thought better of it. These are some funny and strange laws! Thanks for letting me know!
ReplyDeleteHey , Julie - Ann.. a lot of those old laws date back to the Loyalist days here in Saint John and reflect a certain religious outlook of the times.
ReplyDeleteJust doin'my job , Mam., just doin 'my job !... I'd hate to see a fine young Texas lady like yourself be fined .... yeah jailed for lack of info on such a delicate and personal matter..LOL Texas State Law likewise forbids the selling of ones left eye........ and the right one as well !!
ReplyDeleteFrom time to time Johnny Carson would get a bunch of these laws and read them on his show. I do worry that some dumb laws like that one against selling eyes could apply to those who donate their bodies (after they die) to medical science for transplants. Could some old law botch up what otherwise was a totally altruistic act?
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I have a book about my town with all the bylaws, etc. It is old. And as I read it I kept wondering 'What were they thinking?'
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