Mercury in retrograde? How about laws in retrograde. For reasons unknown, these laws are still in place.
1. In seven U.S. states, according to their constitutions, atheists are barred from holding public office.
2. Sodomy is illegal, in general, in Idaho, Utah, Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In these states, sodomy is only illegal for homosexuals: Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Oral sex is often considered sodomy by many states, according to the Hebrew Bible. Except strangely, you don’t see people as equally outraged about this as they are about gay sex.
3. Interracial marriage was still illegal in Alabama in 2000.
4. Not until 2008 did the UN Security Council pass UN Security Council Resolution No. 1820 which declared rape and other forms of sexual violence a war crime, a crime against humanity, and a constitutive act with respect to genocide, arising from the conflict in the Balkans, in which violating women became an conspicuous weapon in the war.
5. Since 1986, US authorities have had the legal right to access any 180-day old email, without a warrant.
6. In Mobile, Alabama, it is against the law to throw confetti or spray silly string.
7. In Saudi Arabia, it is illegal for any woman to drive a car. Right now, it’s illegal for them to vote too. Apparently it will become legal in 2015 (how sweet).
8. In Dubai, extramarital sex is against the law and could result in jail sentences for over a year. Which means that in rape cases, both the victim and the perpetrator could end up being charged with the same crime.
9. In Saudi Arabia, there is no minimum age for marriage. In 2008, a Saudi court refused an 8-year-old girl, who asked for a divorce from her 58-year-old husband.
10. In 29 states in the US it is legal to fire someone for being gay.
11. In Greece, police are allowed to arrest anyone suspected of having HIV. Police are also allowed to force HIV testing, to publicize the names of HIV-positive people and to have them evicted from their homes.
12. In the Philippines you can be charged with the crime of “unjust vexation” for doing just that, vexing someone. And yes, it is as vague and arbitrary as it sounds.
13. The only two states where divorce is illegal are the Philippines and The Vatican.
14. In Thailand it is illegal to step on money.
15. In Singapore, selling non-medical chewing gum or chewing normal gum is a fine of $1000. A second offense costs $2000 and being forced to clean a public area of the city for a day. If a person litters three times, they must clean the streets wearing a bib that reads “I’m a litterer.” Even pharmacists who sell the medical gum and forget to ID get two years in jail. Spitting is also illegal and can result in arrest.
16. In July 2013 a law was passed in China that states it is illegal for adult children to not visit their parents “often” in China. They are also required to attend to their parent’s spiritual needs.
17. There is a law in South Carolina called the no “mock proposal” law, which states that anybody above the age of 16-years-old is not allowed to perform a proposal if they do not mean it.
18. In Montana, “proxy weddings” are allowed for those serving in the military, which means a friend can pretend to be the groom or the bride and the union will still be considered valid. In some cases both the bride and the groom are absent.
19. In Arkansas there still exists a law that was instated in the 1800s that states a husband is allowed to beat his wife, but only once a month.
20. In Rhode Island, a union can be considered invalid under the grounds that the party is deemed to be, collectively, an idiot or a lunatic.
21. 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.
22. In Iowa, it is illegal for a man with a mustache to kiss a woman in public.
23. In Massachusetts it is deemed illegal for a woman to be on top during sex.
24. It is also apparently illegal in Massachusetts for a man and a woman who rent a room for the night to sleep in the nude.
25. In Virginia, it is illegal for a man to kick a woman out of bed.
26. In Britain it is illegal to handle a salmon in suspicious circumstances.
27. In Vermont, a wife needs the husband’s permission to wear false teeth.
28. In North Carolina couples must have sex in the missionary position and with the curtains pulled.
29. In Britain, it is illegal to import potatoes into England or Wales if you have reasonable cause to believe that they are Polish.
30. In Oregon, talking dirty while having sex is illegal. Even though they don’t really specify what qualifies as dirty talk.
31. In Utah you can marry your cousin, but only if you are both over the age of 65. Because, you know, when you turn 65 you’re known to have impeccable judgment.
32. In Britain you are not allowed to let your pet mate with any pet form the royal house.
33. In Utah, a husband is responsible for his wife’s actions as long as he is with her at the time of her “actions.”
34. In Kentucky, a woman cannot remarry the same man more than three times.
35. In parts of India, a man who is in debt can offer up his wife until the debt is paid.
36. In Greece, if anyone wants to get married, the law requires those to publish their wedding notice in a newspaper (written in Greek) or on the City Hall notice board.
37. In France, it is stated as illegal to marry a dead person.
38. In Britain, it is illegal to carry a plank along the pavement.
39. In Hong Kong, there’s a law that allows a wife to kill her husband if she finds him cheating. However, she must kill him with her bare hands.
40. In Britain it is illegal to operate a cow while intoxicated.
41. In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to tie a dollar bill to a string on the ground and pull it away when someone tries to pick it up.
42. In New York City it is illegal to honk your horn. If you do, you’re at risk of paying $350 fine.
43. In Florida, it’s illegal to fart in a public place after 6pm on a Thursday.
44. In England it is illegal to die in the House Of Parliament, but something tells me that if someone did do this, they wouldn’t face many repercussions?
45. By law, any whale or great Sturgeon caught in the UK is the property of the Queen.
46. In Samoa it is illegal to forget your wife’s birthday.
47. In Britain, oddly enough it is illegal to be drunk in the pub.
48. In Missouri it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear
49. In Turin, Italy, dog owners must take their dogs on a walk at least three times a day.
50. In Honolulu, Hawaii it is illegal to sing loudly after sunset.
51. In Sweden it is illegal to be found buying the services of a prostitute, even though prostitution is legal. Which means the prostitutes themselves would not be breaking the law. In the past few years Iceland and Norway have also adopted this law.
52. In Victoria, Australia, it is illegal to change a light bulb unless you’re a licensed electrician.
53. In the UK, a law still exists from the Middle Ages that requires all males over the age of 14 to be trained in shooting a long bow.
54. Bangladeshi children of 15 and older can be sent to jail for cheating on their final exams.
55. In Australia, men are free to cross-dress, just as long as their dresses are not strapless.
56. In Florida it is illegal for a divorced or a widowed woman to skydive on a Sunday afternoon.
57. In Switzerland, it is illegal to flush a toilet after 10pm. This one confounds me.
58. In Canada, any comic book that portrays illegal activity is banned.
59. In Argentina, there is a law that states that Argentine nightclubs must play the same amount of tango music as all other forms of music combined.
60. In China, it is a law that a person must be intelligent to go to college.
61. Married New Yorkers cannot get divorced on grounds of irreconcilable differences unless both marriage partners agree on those grounds.
62. In Tennessee it is legal to carry a loaded firearm into a bar. Seems safe.
63. In Norway, there is a law that protects all female dogs and cats from being spayed. Only male dogs and cats can be neutered. Also, an ancient Norwegian law still still exists that obliges all Norwegians to go out on expeditions to rape and plunder at least once every five years.
64. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon. Apparently this is a slight to the great French general and emperor.
65. In Britain it is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the monarch’s head upside down on an envelope.
66. In Russia, Vladimir Putin just recently made it illegal to tell kids that gay people exist.
67. In Colorado it is illegal to collect rainwater. Apparently farmers and landowners are being punished for this.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/rachel-hodin/2013/10/67-ridiculous-laws-from-around-the-world-that-still-actually-exist/
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