Question

What are the craziest laws you can think of?

Answer 1

I guess this isn't the kind of "crazy" you were looking for...but I am just beside myself having to pay free room and board for known criminals. Ricky Gray was finally put to death after killing a family of four on New Year's Day eleven years ago in Richmond VA. The little girls were only four and nine. 

Answer 2

It is illegal to die in the House of Parliament .

Comments

What's the punishment?

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You'd have to ask the Limeys about that ! LOL

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"Send him to France!" lol

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Dagnabbit, I'd hate to break that law. I'll bet nobody ever does it twice. 

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@ Didge:

What, no near-death experiences in Parliament?

Answer 3

It is illegal to ride horses into the Yavapai County Courthouse.

(And yes, it WAS done in the past)

Comments

I think I probably know the guy who did it.

I used to work in the Sydney General Post Office, a building that spans an entire city block. One night one of our guys got drunk,  brought his motorbike up in the lift, and chased the boss down the centre aisle on it. The boss wasn't smart enough to duck into one of the bays -- he just ran. True story, no matter how unlikely. 

Answer 4

Still on the books:

Illegal for a chicken to cross the road. GA

Illegal to sell a toothbrush and toothpaste to the same person on Sunday. RI

Bingo games can't last more than 5 hours. NC

Illegal to cut down a cactus in Arizona

Comments

Definitely some strange ones there. That toothbrush law is a doozy. 

Answer 5

Yes, there are lots of weird, and ridiculous (and a few supposedly ridiculous) laws all over the world. That it is

- illegal to "pass wind" in a public place after 6 p.m. on Thursdays;

- a crime to forget your wife's birthday in Samoa;

- illegal, in England, to die in the Houses of Parliament;

- in Thailand, illegal to step on money;

etc., etc.

further, it is said (I don't know if that is true), that,

- in Arkansas, there still exists a law that was instated in the 1800's stating that a husband is allowed to beat his wife, but only once a month;

- in Arizona, having more than two vibrators in your home is illegal - if you own more than two in your house, you can be subject to criminal possession;

- in Iowa, it is illegal for a man with a mustache to kiss a woman in public;

- in Vermont, a wife needs the husband’s permission to wear false teeth;

- in Britain, oddly enough, it is illegal to be drunk in the pub;

- in Florida, it is illegal for a divorced or a widowed woman to skydive on a Sunday afternoon ...

etc., etc.

Here's some reading:

http://list25.com/the-25-craziest-laws-ever/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2856346/It-illegal-not-smile-Milan-no-donkeys-sleep-bath-Oklahoma-strangest-laws-word.html

Answer 6

From Marianne's reading list:

Flushing the toilet after 10pm is illegal in Switzerland. Flushing the loo after 10pm in an apartment building is illegal in the country of Switzerland. The Government consider it noise pollution.

LOL!  Is this true, Marianne?  And if it is, at what time in the morning are you allowed to start flushing again? 

Comments

That is exaggerated - lol - and rules differ from one house or place to the other, depending on the isolation of apartments and houses, and their neighbourhood; you'd best read these smiling recommendations - sorry, we have them only in German (which is convenient for you), French and Italian:

https://www.comparis.ch/hypotheken/eigenheim/laermbelaestigung.aspx
http://www.beobachter.ch/wohnen/nachbarn/artikel/nachbarschaft_wer-will-krach/

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LOL, so you can make flushing (and other) noises at 0600!    That seems a bit early for my taste.

I like the way the two kids in the back do their 'binoculars'. 

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Lol - the noises "at room level" depend much on the sound isolations and on the neighbourhood.

For kids and young people, it is indeed not easy, as there are many restrictions. But there were quite a few "noise emission" cases, which were much debated in the news - especially noises from outside, like roosters in rural and urban environments (I'll refer to the UK for news in English):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192480/Owners-Rodney-rooster-facing-5-000-fine-angry-neighbours-record-crowing-76-times-starting-3-45am.html

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LOL, a rooster crowing at 0343 only 10 meters away would be more than a little annoying.   

Maybe they could have a veterinarian perform a larygectomy on the rooster?  No, that would probably violate animal cruelty laws. 

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Lol - normally, there are chicken coops for the night, and farmers get up early (but not at 3.43 a.m., of course).

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Yes, but in this particular case, the owner of the rooster is an electrician who doesn't live on a farm.

And his neighbors (who filed the complaint) live nearby.  

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@T(h)ink

Lol - this case was, of course, a particular one; formerly, the owners of roosters were farmers getting up early in the morning, but times changed with the urban sprawl.

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@ Marianne:

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Lol - of course - overpopulation!

Answer 7

Hi Didge, well I have a rather sad one for you...my friend who was a Vietnam vet with PTSD, he tried to commit suicide in 2009. It was a horrific attempt, and unsuccessful only because someone called the police who broke down his door within a breadth of time.

Well, here in Washington State, it turns out that suicide is illegal! The local powers-that-be did not prosecute him, they treated him kindly and tried to help; but still they made him aware that he had committed a crime. 

Sorrow.

Comments

Virginia, I am aware that attempting suicide is illegal in some states, but I never heard of someone actually being prosecuted for it.

http://www.suicidefindinghope.com/content/is_suicide_a_crime

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Tink that link was of interest...I found this, which should indicate that Washington State had removed that law from their books by 2009, which was the year my friend tried:

"By the early 1990s only two U.S. states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification."