One of our favorite dinner table topics in my house is what we would do if we were in charge of the world for a day. Usually the discussion centers around excessive dessert eating and elimination of homework. I like to pretend I can eliminate all the things in the world that annoy me. None are a big deal, most are none of my business, but I am confident the world would be a better place if, for instance, everyone stopped wearing ugly shoes (Crocs!). 
It seems that our state legislature has a long history of playing the same game, except their votes count. As pointed out in this recent Boston Globe article, Massachusetts still has dozens of antiquated laws on the books. For example, spitting in public is a crime. (I actually agree with this one wholeheartedly. You are all disgusting if you spit in public.) Swearing at a sporting event is also a crime, but who hasn’t done that? More seriously, Massachusetts still has on the books laws from 1845-47 that make abortion a crime. Those laws are unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s pronouncement in Roe v. Wade, but if Roe were ever overturned, we would be back to those 1845 laws.
Massachusetts is certainly not alone in having old, and sometimes weird, laws on the books. Yet state legislators are either too lazy or too scared to go through the political effort to repeal the laws. What unusual antiquated laws are on the books where you are from?
2 Comments
Zach Barnard posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:03 am
After taking some time to look this up, I found on several websites that it is still illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket on Sundays in the great state of Georgia!
Ashley Waters posted on February 18, 2013 at 2:04 am
It’s not just swearing at a sporting event that is illegal, but it is illegal in Middleborough, MA too. I agree that people should not be walking down the street swearing up a storm, but it is free speech. Also, no one knows what words are subject to a fine, even though this has been in Middleborough’s bylaws since 1968. What I do find interesting is there will be no fine “if someone cursed while watching a sports game,” I am assuming they mean in a bar situation, “or hurled expletives after dropping his or her ice cream.” I feel this is just another way for the city to make money and act as Big Brother.
Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/06/12/ma-town-votes-to-fine-residents-20-for-cursing-in-public-but-should-it/