5 American States with Ridiculous Laws

You might have come across Connecticut’s loony law which says that it is illegal to call a pickle a pickle until it bounces, or you might have read about that law which prohibits donkeys from bathtubs. While these might give you a good laugh, a lot of them are true and still enforced nowadays. You might not be aware that your home state has some of the dumbest laws ever known. Here are some of them:

Alabama

If you happen to be that snooty school principal from an 80s movie with pesky kids, you might consider Alabama to be the place to be. Here, stink bombs, funk balls or any other object the purpose of which is to create disagreeable odor is strictly prohibited. It is also illegal to have spray strings, confetti, so is bathing in public fountains.

It looks like Alabama also takes importance in qualifying its voting populace. Here, the state constitution prohibits idiots or insane people to vote. This looks like bad news for a lot of people who have been itching to have their donkeys represented in the senate.

California

[su_quote cite=”Ben Carson”]“What do lawyers learn in law school? They learn to win… What we’ve got to start thinking about is how to solve problems.”[/su_quote]

A frog jumping contest might sound like something straight out of your nerd fantasy which you have never seen, but believe it or not, this is regulated by California laws. Yes, you can participate in a frog jumping contest but you have to exercise a little care. If any of the frogs die in the game, you cannot eat them. Too bad for wanting something that tastes like chicken.

It looks like Californian legislators have been into memes before anyone of us had. The law prohibits building or maintaining a nuclear weapon within Chico, California city limits. It looks like this makes sense, but this prohibition has been rebirthed as a popular internet joke because of its consequences. Aside from self-annihilation, you will also be slapped with a $500 fine.

Georgia

If you are a bit of a potty mouth, you have to be a little more careful the next time you visit Georgia. Using profane language in the presence of a person under 14, whether it be in person or by phones, is punishable by law in Georgia.

Georgia is popular for its fried chicken, and its legislators are fully aware of that. They love their chicken so much that they enacted a law for it. Here, “finger lickin good” is not a commercial phrase to sell chicken, it is mandatory. Eating chicken with anything other than your hands is punishable by law in Georgia. This law was enacted in 1961 as a publicity stunt in the world’s poultry capital. They actually do take this law pretty seriously since a tourist was arrested in 2009 for eating chicken with a fork.

New York

New York state legislation takes particular ire for people in disguise. Here, being disguised in an unusual or unnatural attire or any form of facial alteration while loitering or congregating in a public place with other person is classified as an illegal loiterer. Trick or treat in the Big Apple anyone?

If you happen to like your bagels in another form, you will have to pay more for such in New York. State legislations take that extra slice to a higher level of seriousness since if your bagels come in altered form, they come with additional eight cents of tax. You can avoid such tax by having your bagel uncut.

Washington

Washington is surely the place for you if you happen to be at least 10 foot tall, wear size 30 shoes, really hairy and likes the cold better in particular. The law prohibits sasquatch poaching in two Washington counties. They love these guys so much that in 1991, Whatcom Country had declared around one million acres of land as an official Sasquatch Protection and Refuge Area, and this is what gave America its first Bigfoot Sanctuary.

The reason behind this ridiculous law was that if Bigfoot does exist, lawmakers saw the need to classify it as an endangered species, so it needs some protection. This is why Skamania County has classified sasquatch poaching as a felony since 1969. Washington’s Sasquatch laws are still punishable nowadays with a hefty $1000 fine.

Our rights, human interactions, and conduct are largely regulated by the laws of our land. So if your state law prohibits you from wrestling with a bar like how they do in Oklahoma or whistling underwater like how it is in West Virginia, at least you know how to be a law abiding citizen. Do you know of any other loony laws? Share them with us in the comments below.