Wow! It Just Became Legal for Parisian Women to Wear Pants...

I just came acrossthis article:

It Just Became Legal for Parisian Women to Wear Pants - Megan Garber - The Atlantic

Amazing! According to the article, the law first went on the books in 1799. It was amended a couple of times, and then (my bold) ...

 In 2010, a group of Green Party lawmakers introduced a bill in the National Assembly to strike down the law (and to fight, more generally, other aspects of France's "judicial archaeology"). The Paris Prefecture, the ancestor of the body that had enacted the decree in the first place, responded that, the law being comically outmoded, it wasn't worth the effort to remove from the books.

We still have some "comically outmoded" laws on the books in the U.S., too. For instance, it is still a crime for unwed couples to live together in four states, including Virginia.

Although, not criminally enforcable, because it just won't hold up in court due to constitutional issues, the Virginia law still serves as a legal excuse for discrimination by landlords and licensing agencies. It may soon be struck down by the proposed "Love Shack" bill.

So, what kind of weird, antequated laws have you had to deal with lately?

Did You Know that DUI Checkpoints Are Illegal in 12 States?

For the uninitiated, DUI checkpoints, also known as sobriety checkpoints, are roadblocks set up by the police under the auspices of catching for drunk drivers. Yes, the kind of thing you expect to encounter during a manhunt when a serial killer escapes from prison or maybe when a child is kidnapped.

When I say these roadblocks are set up “under the auspices of catching drunk drivers” I am referring to the fact that the majority of tickets, arrests and impounds resulting from many of these checkpoint are for infractions other than intoxication. Sobriety checkpoints are an excuse to stop every driver without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

Even if you never personally encounter a sobriety checkpoint, you are still affected. DUI roadblocks are huge revenue generators. Local governments make all kinds of money off of the tickets and impounds that result from the non-dui infractions, and they receive federal grants to conduct the checkpoints. So, even if you live in a state which does not allow sobriety checkpoints, your tax dollars still go to fund them.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that even though these checkpoints violate our constitutional rights, it’s just a small violation and offset by the need to stop drunk drivers, so it’s permissible. Some states, however, have taken a stand for your most basic rights and made their own laws or declared that it is against state constitutions to conduct the vile roadblocks.

You can learn more and find out if you live in one of these states by reading my article DUI Checkpoints Are Illegal in 12 States.