a supreme court ruling written by justice antonin scalia found that u.s. police officers have no duty or obligation to protect citizens - even children - from harm.
at the time this factoid was recorded, there is no minimum age for marriage in 20 of the 50 united states.
in alabama, it is a class b felony to wrestle a bear.
in the 19th century, juries often refused to convict women for abortion. the state governments' response to this was to write more restrictive abortion laws and interrogate women to find out who performed the abortions.
in all of the united states throughout the 19th and early 20th century, pre-quickening abortions were considered to be actions without a lawful purpose. this meant that if the mother died, the individual performing the abortion was guilty of murder.
the first women to travel across the u.s. on motorcycles (the van buren sisters) did so despite frequently being arrested in the way for wearing pants.
in 1918, iowa's governor banned the use of any language but english in that state. churches had to close, and folks were fined for speaking german.
it's against the law to carry ice cream in your back pocket while walking in alabama.
sheets and blankets were such luxury items during the middle ages that they were actually written into peoples' wills.
the united states is 1 of just 7 countries that sentences children to death. how far back does that law go?
1646 a.d.
under canon law, the catholic bishop of orlando, florida, is also the bishop of the moon.
fireworks are illegal in florida. to get around it, would-be boom-boom buyers have to sign a waiver saying that their purchases will be used exclusively to keep birds away from their crops.
a 'double stuffed' oreo only contains 1.86 times as much stuffing as a regular oreo. the package says 'double stuf' to avoid litigation for false advertising.
the last 'witch' was put to death in europe in 1775. altogether, more than 130,000 people were murdered over 500 years for the crime of 'witchcraft'.
if you are u.s. citizen, you can legally be buried at sea. all that you need is a sheet, some weights, and someone willing to take you at least 3 miles offshore and dump you overboard.
every year in the united states, roughly 23,000 people go to the emergency room as a result of taking supplements, some of which contain illegal amphetamines.
(due to a law passed by congress in 1994, supplements are completely unregulated.)
in montana, you can get married even if you and your intended don't attend the wedding.
the term 'jay walking' was introduced by the auto companies in the 1920's to deflect blame from drivers who ran over pedestrians and claim the streets - which used to be for all - for automobiles.
to prevent a plunge in coastal real estate prices - and in an attempt to stop the spread of information regarding climate change - north carolina legislators passed a law forbidding the use of scientific data in any study of sea level change along that state's coast.
between 1907 and 1922, american women who married men born in other countries lost their american citizenship. in 1917, women who married german men had to register as 'enemy aliens'.