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6 Weird Laws Still on the Books in 2015

Moving? Might want to check your new city or state for weird laws

By Livability.com on December 30, 2014

Moving? Watch out for weird laws.

It's not uncommon for someone who recently moved to a new city or state to come across a law they weren't aware of. A judge will quickly tell you that ignorance of the law excuses no one. Alcohol sales, traffic regulations, and tax collections often differ from state to state and city to city. So finding out that Tennessee doesn’t allow alcohol sales before noon on Sunday shouldn’t come as such a shock. But did you know it’s perfectly legal to eat roadkill in the Volunteer State? That’s just one of the many strange laws you’ll find across the country. Because we don’t want anyone getting into trouble and breaking a law unbeknownst to them, we offer this list of the weirdest laws in the country.

Know where to disrobe in Delaware.

According to Municipal Code 198-14 in the City of Rehoboth Beach, it is illegal not only to take off your clothes under the boardwalk or on the beach, but also in “any vehicle while such vehicle is parked upon any public street or way, or other public place in plain view of the public.” And if you get caught, better watch what you say. It’s also illegal in Rehoboth Beach to use “abusive, insulting, obscene or profane language” in any public place.

Better to not know if you’re drunk in Alaska.

Section 04.16.040 of the Alaska Statutes states that “a drunken person may not knowingly enter or remain on premises” of an establishment that serves alcohol. So in this case, pleading ignorance of your intoxication level might be a good defense. Section 04.16.070 states that sales of alcohol on Election Day is prohibited, until the polls have closed.

Your social media accounts are safe in California.

Chapter 2.5 in Part 3 of Division 2 of the California Labor Code states that an employer, “shall not require or request an employee or applicant” to: disclose a username or password for their social media accounts, access personal social media accounts, or divulge any personal social media information about an employee.

No living in sin in the Sunshine State.

Under chapter 798, section 02 of the Florida Statutes, any man and woman who are not married cannot live together. The statute also prohibits those who are married or unmarried from engaging in “open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior.” So if you’re planning to run away to Florida together, better tie the knot first and get the wild desires out of your system.

They take the National Anthem serious in Massachusetts.

Found in the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is Section 9, which clearly states that anyone who “plays, sings or renders the Star-Spangled Banner in any public place” other than the way it was written, or who uses any part of the song as “dance music” or an “exit march,” or as a part of a medley of any kind, shall be fined not more than $100.

Wisconsin butter and cheese must be “highly pleasing.”

Throughout Wisconsin’s provisions on food is the demand that butter and cheeses must by “highly pleasing.” For example, in order for brick and muenster cheese to be labeled and sold as Wisconsin-certified premium grade AA cheese it “shall be fine, highly pleasing, and free from undesirable flavors and odors, except that the cheese may have a very slight feed flavor.” Who doesn’t like a little feed flavor after all?

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