Top Laws You Never Knew Existed

[duba]

1. It is illegal to have an ice cream cone in your pocket on Sunday.
2. Any physical action intended to frighten fish is prohibited.
3. A passenger in an elevator must talk to no one with their hands folded while facing the door.
4. Fish cannot be transported via parcel post.
5. It is illegal for a man to look at a woman, “In that way”.
6. Women are prohibited from wearing body hugging clothing.
7. Dancing in an unlicensed bar or nightclub is illegal.
8. Filming in a city park without permit is illegal.
9. Unauthorized use of a milk crate.
10. It is against the law to walk down the street while reading.
11. Dancing Tango is outlawed city wide.
12. It is illegal to throw a ball at someone’s head for fun.
13. It is against the law to do anything that is against the law.

Anyone else got any? Comments? Suggestions?

I got these from the new show on Court TV, called The Smoking Gun. It airs this Monday and Tuesday at 10:30PM Eastern time

It hilarious!!!

[geni]

a lot of those look like local bylaws. Some of them do make sense if you think about them.

[Agammamon]

Most of those look like they come from NYC.

[SteveW]

The dancing in an unlicensed bar/nightclub is a real law in NYC and believe me, it is enforced.

[Brown]

In some states, it is illegal to possess marijuana without a license. Basically, when some marijuana comes into your possession, you are supposed to go down to the local law enforcement department and buy a stamp to put on your bag o' weed.

When you buy the stamp, of course, you promptly get arrested for possession of illegal substances, and the cops promptly obtain a search warrant to search the place where you live for those substances.

If you don't buy the stamp, and you get caught with marijuana in your possession, you face a penalty--separate and distinct from the penalty you face for drug possession--for failing to have your stamp.

This law sounds like it's taken right out of Joseph Heller's "Catch-22."

[Donks]

Originally posted by Brown
In some states, it is illegal to possess marijuana without a license. Basically, when some marijuana comes into your possession, you are supposed to go down to the local law enforcement department and buy a stamp to put on your bag o' weed.

When you buy the stamp, of course, you promptly get arrested for possession of illegal substances, and the cops promptly obtain a search warrant to search the place where you live for those substances.

If you don't buy the stamp, and you get caught with marijuana in your possession, you face a penalty--separate and distinct from the penalty you face for drug possession--for failing to have your stamp.

This law sounds like it's taken right out of Joseph Heller's "Catch-22."

How much does the stamp cost? If it's cheap enough, it's a fantastic way to piss off the cops. Just make sure your house and car are clean and buy a stamp every day. Probably better if you don't own anything they can break during the search, though.

[Virgil]

In TN you can go in and pay the tax and get the tax stamp anonomusly.


Virgil

[Art Vandelay]

Originally posted by SteveW
The dancing in an unlicensed bar/nightclub is a real law in NYC and believe me, it is enforced.
Is it enforced against the patrons or the bar?

Brown:
I don't see how that could pass fifth amendment muster.

[Z]

Anyone remember the book, "Donkeys Can't Sleep in Bathtubs?"

[glee]

Originally posted by duba
1. It is illegal to have an ice cream cone in your pocket on Sunday.
2. Any physical action intended to frighten fish is prohibited.
3. A passenger in an elevator must talk to no one with their hands folded while facing the door.
4. Fish cannot be transported via parcel post.
5. It is illegal for a man to look at a woman, “In that way”.
6. Women are prohibited from wearing body hugging clothing.
7. Dancing in an unlicensed bar or nightclub is illegal.
8. Filming in a city park without permit is illegal.
9. Unauthorized use of a milk crate.
10. It is against the law to walk down the street while reading.
11. Dancing Tango is outlawed city wide.
12. It is illegal to throw a ball at someone’s head for fun.
13. It is against the law to do anything that is against the law.


1 and 2 look sensible.
7 and 8 look like laws that do exist.

13 is not a law, just an explanation.

Surely we can all unite on repealing 6?

For one thing, it's sexist!
Would anyone be offended if I suggested an amendment: insert 'Horizontally gifted' at the beginning...:D

Here in the UK we have many archaic laws. Occasionally we repeal a few, but I think I broke the law yesterday by not practising with a longbow.

[cbish]

Here in Nor Cal, it is illegal to detonate a nuclear device within the city limits of Chico or Davis. I also heard in Berkley it is illegal for cats to be carnivorous but I think that's just an urban legend.

[TragicMonkey]

I live in a touristy beach town. To encourage a "family friendly" atmosphere, the local government enforces anti-"bad language" laws near the oceanfront. They have put up signs with a cartoon swear (you know, an asterisk, pound sign, percent sign, whatever) inside a red circle with a line through it (the "no" sign).

The result? I overhead a family of tourists discussing the signs:

Male Tourist: "What does that sign mean, Amy?"
Female Tourist: "I think it says 'No Sh*t' ".

[Brown]

In Minnesota, there is a law that prevents filling stations from cutting their prices too much. As has been reported in News of the Weird (http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/nw040613.html) (and other sources), state law requires that dealers make at least 8 cents per gallon in profit, and the state Commerce Department recently levied a $70,000 fine against a petroleum supplier that was charging too low a price (at a time when gas prices were about two dollars per gallon).

[Lars Blitzer]

Well, one bylaw that's unique here in Edmonton is that given at least a days advance notice, you can herd livestock down 97th street. Now, let me put that in the proper context. Edmonton is the provincial capital of Alberta, which has a population of 800,000, including various suburbs, subdivision, etc. 97th St. runs right downtown, past the Police HQ and Chinatown, and is usually very busy. One popular topic of conversation with my friends usually addresses the sort of havok that herding say, a flock of sheep on foot through downtown. Weird, huh?