Talk:Blue law

WikiProject Time assessment rating comment

Want to help write or improve articles about Time? Join WikiProject Time or visit the Time Portal for a list of articles that need improving.
—Yamara ✉ 19:25, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Discussion

62.90.159.153 (talk) 22:47, 5 March 2008 (UTC){{WP Adventist|class=start}}

Can someone please do some heavy editing on the Israel section? It is somewhat misleading; many small shops and restaurants stay open on the sabbath both in the cities and rural areas (even jerusalem). While Blue Laws are certainly on the books, I can state that as a one-time resident of Bergen County and a current resident of Israel, it's sometimes easier to find an open store here in Israel than in NJ... 62.90.159.153 (talk) 22:47, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Blue movies doesn't make sense here. Blue movies are dirty movies, not rigidly moral movies, and the term has the opposite connotation of bluenose. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.67.236.132 (talk) 15:23, August 23, 2007 (UTC)

I just clicked on "Blue movies" never having heard the term before, assuming it was some type of (as mentioned above) "rigidly moral" movie. And of course my screen was filled with the entry for Pornographic Movie which obviously contains sexually explicit images and text. This is unacceptable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.43.153.1 (talk) 16:03, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I've never heard this term used in Canada - if it is, is the usage regional?156.34.39.37 18:28, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm just restoring the text that the previous (anonymous) person deleted completely.... Of course in 2 months someone will ask approval for edits they made to the page I "wrote."  ;-) --KQ

---

An aspect of blue laws that deserves some attention here is their constitutionality: whether prohibiting certain businesses from operating on the Christian sabbath violates the first amendment by preferring one religion over another. -- Arteitle 07:13 3 Jun 2003 (UTC)

The only problem with providing such an analysis is that it would probably be original research rather than a recapitulation of ideas expressed elsewhere. See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not, Item 10. -- NetEsq 14:14 3 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Perhaps some reference to the fact that the issue has been raised in the past, then. If there were some definitive historical legal challenge, for example. I'm not knowledgable enough to fill that in; that's actually what I was curious about when I looked up the article. -- Arteitle 09:33 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I am not aware of any definitive historical legal challenge to blue laws based upon First Amendment grounds. In fact, at the time that the First Amendment was passed, it clearly applied only to the federal government and left state governments free to establish their own official state churches, which many states did. To wit, Pennsylvania was originally a theocracy established by Quakers for the express purpose of allowing freedom of religion as opposed to freedom from religion. It wasn't until the Civil War Amendments were passed -- specifically the Fourteenth Amendment -- that conflicts between state and federal law became a real issue. Moreover, the idea of freedom from religion based on constitutional grounds did not surface until the Scopes Trial in 1925; it wasn't until the 1968 case of Epperson v. Arkansas that the United States Supreme Court finally cited the Establishment Clause as being applicable to religious institutions established by the several states. -- NetEsq 12:33 5 Jun 2003 (UTC)

---

Anyone know what areas still have general blue laws?

As far as I can find, only Bergen County, New Jersey in the US. Nova Scotia has weak blue laws, and the EU, if its constitution ever passes, will have weak blue laws as well. Israel and numerous Muslim countries have equivalents of blue laws for Saturday and Friday. - Cuivienen 00:14, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

One-third of US states still have blue laws, although that number has begun dropping rapidly in the last several years.David Justin 16:11, 13 December 2005 (UTC)[1]

In Pennsylvania, bars are allowed to be open on Sundays only if they serve food. Also, I believe, not before noon. Some info on several US states here.--BillFlis 18:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Davies comment

Robertson Davies is a great author and I love the quote here; however, doesn't it belong much more in an article on Daylight Savings Time or Puritanism than here? The only link seems to be that he is criticising the Purtians, presumed originators of the blue laws, for something else which is only peripherally related (at best).

Agreed. Done - I moved it to Daylight Savings Time. I'll leave it to others to decide if it's worth putting in Puritanism

Singkong 6 July 2005 02:36 (UTC)

Relocation

I understand the Wikipedia naming convention. But I have seen many references to "Blue Laws" (and some to "blue laws") and almost almost none, ever, to "Blue laws". Aren't we getting carred away? Rlquall 12:39, 15 Nov 2004

Merge with Sunday shopping?

Isn't this just another term for the same issue, that of which stores (if any) should be permitted to open on Sundays? --Delirium 08:24, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Not necessarily. In Massachusetts, the blue laws currently prohibit most retail stores from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas. [2] --WikkiTikkiTavi 15:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

not necessarily, until 2006 it was illegal in Ontario to hunt with a firearm on Sundays, as part of the Lord's Day Act. I have added this information to the page as well.

--Jadger 12:00, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Texas Blue Laws - Motor Vehicle Dealers

The sentence stating that Texas prohibits the sale of vehicles on Sunday is incorrect. Texas only prohibits motor vehicle dealers from being open for business on both Saturday and Sunday. Dealers must choose between the two days and often switch between the two for different promotions.

Jyroberson 22:58, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Possible Contradiction in "Bergen County, New Jersey" section

In the "Bergen County, New Jersey" section it is noted that "The county is not considered a particularly religious area." Then, it it followed with "Bergen County has significant Jewish and Muslim populations." Besides this, the county also has a large number of Christians including Roman Catholics, as well as Christians of other denominations. Before I edit this, I would like some input regarding how best to clarify this and input discussing if clarification is indeed necessary.

Thank you.

That section was changed, but there are no citations given for either the former "not particularly religious" claim nor for the "significant Jewish and Muslim population" claim. Both are somewhat subjective statements. An area that is no more religious than any other is not particularly religious, and Bergen County is far less religious overall than a typical Bible Belt county, which would be considered particularly religious. An area with clusters of Jews or Muslims large enough to be noticed could be said to have significant populations. Hypothetically, an area of the nation where only 25% of the population is religious, but where 6% of the population is Jewish would be an area that is not particularly religious, but with a significant Jewish population, since Jews make up only 1.5% of the nation. Thus the two statements do not contradict each other on face value. What would be relevant is the basis for either claim, and no citations were given. However, the statement that Bergen County is not particularly religious seems reasonable, and should be put back with a citation showing its overall statistics. --Hagrinas 16:47, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

There should be some support for why Bergen County is considered noteworthy. The article states that it is exceptional for banning all types of commerce, but I get the feeling that it isn't that exceptional to deserve such a long section and is only written this way because someone from Bergen County felt like sounding off on the issue. Unless Bergen County's laws are truly unique, I propose cutting this section down or rewriting it to remove a focus on Bergen County. It should simply discuss the existence of more strict blue laws, with Bergen County as an example.

--65.196.116.2 20:02, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Worldwide weekend thanks to Blue laws

Weekend has it starting in Europe due to trade unionists, nothing to do with North American laws at all. I have put "citation needed" on it on it A Geek Tragedy 23:04, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

I took it out now. A Geek Tragedy 10:59, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

SDA's beliefs pertinent information

Links to sources concerning the Adventists' beliefs of the end time significance of blue laws needs to be included in this article. [3] Panda

Gender "appropriate" attire

There is a lot of information circulating (in LGBT literature) about blue laws in the 1950ies that regulated gender "appropriate" attire. I read that in many states, like New York, people could get arrested if they didn't wear at least 3 items of such clothing. Truth or fiction? --Stilfehler 19:03, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Worldwide perspective

Laws designed to enforce moral standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, are or have been common in many other parts of the world too. The fact that American English has a word for them and other forms of English don't (to my knowledge, as an Australian) doesn't make it a specifically American/North American topic. But, I don't know the details of it outside of the US so I can't help with the fixing. —Felix the Cassowary 10:39, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Of course laws that enforce moral and religious standards are common in other parts of the world, but are they called Blue Laws? I can't help but disagree with the 'Worldwide View' tag being placed on this article. It's not really supposed to represent a worldwide view. It's supposed to deal with Blue Laws in the United States and Canada. The only way to make it represent a worldwide view would be to incorporate it into a longer article dealing with laws which enforce religious customs throughout the world. I think the article is just fine the way it is. 24.27.110.167 (talk) 20:08, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

All laws enforce moral standard

Since all laws enforce a moral standard, how does one determine a blue law? Are laws against murder blue laws? Rds865 (talk) 06:39, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Cook Islands

I didn't know that the Cook Islands were part of the US or Canada. This article makes it seem that way. 70.51.8.75 (talk) 05:39, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Election day liquor sales

Are election day liquor sales blue laws? Should prohibitions on election day liquor sales be in this article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.162.99.237 (talk) 00:03, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Ohio blue laws

There are sections regarding the blue laws in a huge number of states, but nothing about Ohio. As far as I know, sale of alcohol on Sundays is prohibited in Ohio except alcohol sold after 11:00 AM in sports arenas (from a recently passed bill). I think this should be added to the page, although I have little experience with such laws. Eebster the Great (talk) 22:03, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Annoyingly pointless redirect

I was reading this article and saw the section about the [Lord's Day Act]. Did you click the link? Because it just put me back up to the top of this very article. Why on Earth is there a link to the Blue Law article actually INSIDE the Blue Law article?