ME: HEY, MOM! what is the Netflix password!? MUM: Um, sorry, I`m not allowed to give you that information, honey. This is called breaking the law. ME: * in awe * The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (officially known as the Tariff Act of 1930) is one of several nationalist laws passed by the United States. It was supposed to protect U.S. businesses and farmers from economic turmoil by raising tariffs on more than 20,000 items by up to 20 percent. We assume that the days when men told women what to wear and what they should look like are long gone. However, this is not the case in Vermont. This law, although not enforced, has not yet been repealed. It states that women must get permission from their husbands if they want to get false teeth. Nebraska laws prohibit anyone with any type of STD from marrying. This law is in place to protect people from unknowingly marrying someone with an STD – but it is difficult to enforce. When you get a marriage license in Nebraska, you don`t need to provide any medical records or your background, just photo ID and proof of age — no blood test is required. The stock market had just collapsed and the world was taking its first steps into what would become known as the Great Depression.

Instead of isolating the United States, as its proponents had hoped, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act has plunged the country off a cliff with the rest of the world. (Damage to trade with other countries, however, may have been the biggest impact.) All this time, I assumed that Britain had some rather strange laws, with stranded whales offered to the Queen, an anti-armour law in Parliament, and a ban on treating a salmon under suspicious circumstances. Some of these U.S. laws are certainly weirder, more confusing, and others a little more frightening. And from the perspective of an adult who loves Halloween and surprise pizza, some of them were just sad. No one likes slow driving in the left lane. I`m on the plate and say it`s my worst pet. But Alabama`s anti-road rabies law, which prohibits drivers from driving more than a mile in the left lane without overtaking, is hardly the answer. Drivers are more than capable of monitoring slow drivers by the usual means – excessive honking, silent swearing and arm waves. The hefty fines — up to $200 per pop — will likely fall on unsuspecting out-of-state drivers and will be little more than a cash cow for police. Although most of these laws now seem incredibly stupid, they had or still have a real pretext.

For example, New York`s law against wearing masks in public places is designed to prevent a mass crime or riot because you don`t know the identity of the undercover attacker. And Arizona`s version of banning camel shooting comes from the United States Camel Corps, an Army experiment to use these animals for military forces. As unlikely as these laws may seem, they have many explanations. Scroll down for our list of weird rules in the US and share it when you learn more about them! Hazing is said to date back to ancient Greece, where Plato wrote about “practical jokes played by unruly young men” at his academy. However, it is not uncommon today for young people to get carried away by this tradition. One such case can be found in Andrew Coffey, a Florida State University engagement who died in November 2017 after drinking excessively. In response, Florida lawmakers passed what has been called the “most innovative” anti-hazing law in the United States. While undoubtedly well-intentioned, the law allows prosecutors to charge people who weren`t even present at a point of trouble, but were simply involved in the discussion. It`s not hard to see how a random tragedy could end up ruining even more lives. These laws are very absurd and offer no real benefit (except to make me laugh).

🙂 According to the 1965 Code, § 41-60, it is illegal “to sell, dispose, give away or use in the city or its police jurisdiction articles known as skunk balls or radio balls or anything similar, whatever their name may be known or called, the purpose of which is to create unpleasant odors to the great discomfort of persons who come into contact with them.” If you know that strange laws are still in force in your country or state, feel free to let us know in the comments. According to reports, 57 million Americans work as freelancers, adding about $1 trillion to the economy each year through flexible work on demand. However, this number will decrease. To save us, California lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which uses a complicated ABC test that redefines many gig workers as full-time employees. Not surprisingly, many companies can`t hire new full-time employees who would qualify for many benefits. As a result, thousands of workers lost their jobs, including 200 workers fired by Vox Media a week before Christmas. Three months earlier, Vox had described the law as a “victory for workers around the world.” This is what economists call a Cobra effect. According to the codes, blacks had to sign annual employment contracts. If these onerous agreements were not signed, blacks could be arrested as vagrants and forced to work for free. These laws also prevented blacks from serving on juries and limited their ability to travel, reflecting legislation in place since the Revolution. One would think that the descendants of revolutionaries would be more cautious in drafting their own laws. You would be wrong.

Some U.S. politicians have passed morally reprehensible laws and actions, violate citizens` rights, or impose their own objectionable beliefs on an entire country. Revolutions begin when a group of people refuse to conform to the laws of their society. This is precisely why the American colonists broke with British rule – because they did not like the laws under which they had to live. The Black Codes, a set of laws passed in 1865-66 in a number of Southern states, can be seen as precursors to Jim Crow laws that people are more familiar with. Although freedom was preferable to slavery for blacks, the situation remained marked by constant racism. In fact, some will argue that current conditions have not improved as much as they could have been. Governing a great country is hard work, and you will be hated by half the population you govern.

Remember that the person at the top is also responsible for the laws on which the entire democratic system is based. And laws are passed after congressional votes, sometimes after a public vote, and then after confirmation by the president. With these stupid laws we`ve compiled below, we don`t know where common sense has been lost. Economists don`t agree on many things, but pretty much all agree: rent control is really harmful. “In many cases, rent control seems to be the most effective technique currently known to destroy a city – apart from bombing,” observed Swedish (and socialist) economist Assar Lindbeck. Unfortunately, new laws in Oregon and California, the first of their kind, show how little politicians understand economics. Rent caps will further reduce housing supply and quality and raise real estate prices in the long run. Housing problems in California are well documented. Unfortunately, they will get worse. (As FEE has observed, the solution to high housing costs is more housing, not price controls.) The fact that it is actually a law bothers me the most.

Some time ago, we talked about a series of photos that ironically depicts people breaking 8 crazy laws. As many of you greatly appreciated this contribution, we decided to delve deeper into the strangest laws still in force today. We`ve discovered so many that one book wouldn`t be enough to write them all, so we`ve just rounded up our 22 favorites in this article just for you. This is our personal list, so you`ll find the dumbest laws, at least in our opinion, at the end of the article. How it is possible that stupid laws like this are still in force today remains a mystery. It`s 2020 and it`s surprising that no one has ever thought of revising it. This ordinance in Gainesville, Georgia, passed in 1961 to promote the city, specifically prohibits eating fried chicken with anything other than hands. Although the “law” is not really taken literally and is rarely enforced, a visitor was arrested for eating her fried chicken with a knife and fork in 2009.

These laws are usually proposed to serve a greater good or to protect people. Unfortunately, they usually miss the mark and often have harmful consequences. Here are some of the worst laws proposed and passed in no particular order in 2019. We searched the internet and official government websites to find some of the strangest laws that exist today. Did you know that there is a crazy law in Juneau, Alaska that prohibits you from taking your flamingo to a hair salon? Or that you could be sued in Tennessee for sharing your Netflix password? And if you`re from Indiana, aren`t you allowed to catch fish with your bare hands? It would certainly be interesting to know why these laws are the strangest in the United States.