Blue law

This article is about laws created to enforce strict moral standards. For early Colony of Connecticut laws, see Blue Laws (Connecticut).

A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping. Most have been repealed, have been declared unconstitutional, or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience.

Laws of this type are also found in non-Christian cultures such as Israel, where the day concerned is Saturday rather than Sunday, and Saudi Arabia, where the month of Ramadan is involved .

In the Cook Islands, blue laws were first written legislation, enacted by the London Missionary Society in 1827, with the consent of ariki (chiefs). In Tonga, the Vava'u Code (1839) was inspired by Methodist missionary teachings, and was a form of blue law. In Niue, certain activities remain forbidden on Sunday, reflecting the country's strong Christian heritage.

History

The first usage of the word blue law may have been by the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) in his 1781 book General History of Connecticut. He used it to describe various laws first enacted by Puritan colonies in the 17th century, prohibiting certain business activities on specific days of the week (usually Sunday). Sometimes the sale of certain types of merchandise was prohibited, and in some cases all retail and business activity.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence to support the assertion that the blue laws were originally printed on blue paper. Rather, the word blue was commonly used in the 18th century as a disparaging reference to rigid moral codes and those who observed them (e.g., "bluenoses", blue movies). Moreover, although Reverend Peters claimed that the term blue law was originally used by Puritan colonists, his work has since been found to be unreliable, and it is more likely that he simply invented the term himself. In any event, Peters never asserted that the blue laws were originally printed on blue paper, and this has come to be regarded as an example of false etymology. Another version is that the laws were first bound in books with blue covers. (See related article: Blue Laws)

Southern and mid-western states also passed numerous laws to protect the (Sunday) Sabbath during the mid to late nineteenth century. Laws targeted numerous groups including saloon owners, Jews, Seventh-day Adventists, and non-religious peoples. These Sunday laws enacted at the state and local levels would sometimes carry penalties for doing non-religious activities on Sunday as part of an effort to enforce religious observance and church attendance. Numerous people were arrested for playing cards, baseball, and even fixing wagon wheels on Sunday. Some of these laws still exist today.

Many European countries still place strong restrictions on store opening hours on Sundays, an example being Germany's Ladenschlussgesetz.

In Henry Taber's Faith or Fact, he writes:

The first observance of Sunday — that history records is in the fourth century', when Constantine issued an edict (not requiring its religious observance, but simply abstinence from work) reading, 'let all the judges and people of the town rest and all the various trades be suspended on the venerable day of the sun.' At the time of the issue of this edict, Constantine was a sun-worshiper; therefore it could have had no relation whatever to Christianity.

In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling housewares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985. In Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, car dealerships continue to operate under blue-law prohibitions in which an automobile may not be purchased or traded on a Sunday. Maryland permits Sunday automobile sales only in the counties of Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard. Texas and Utah prohibit car dealerships from operating over consecutive weekend days. In some cases these laws were created or retained with the support of those whom they affected, to allow them a day off each week without fear of their competitors still being open.

Many states still prohibit selling alcohol on Sunday, or at least before noon on Sunday, under the rationale that people should be in church on Sunday morning, or at least not drinking. At least one unusual feature of American culture—the ability to buy groceries, office supplies, and housewares from a drug store—can be traced to blue laws (under blue laws, drug stores are generally allowed to remain open on Sunday to accommodate emergency medical needs).

Blue laws may also prohibit retail activity on days other than Sunday. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, for example, blue laws dating to the Puritans of the 17th century still prohibit most retail stores, including grocery stores, from opening on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always taken a stance against blue laws. Church members observe the Sabbath on Saturday as stated in one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible, thus conflicting with Sunday laws. In the early days of the church in the mid 1800s, many Adventists in America were imprisoned for a short time for working in their fields on Sunday.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that Sunday worship will be legislated nationwide in the United States, and eventually world wide. Historically this was introduced into Seventh-day Adventist beliefs during its conception. It was stated that the Catholic Church under the direction of the Pope will spearhead this legislation. It's believed that accepting this legislation—choosing to worship on Sunday vs. Saturday, and agreeing not to buy or sell on Sunday—is "taking the mark of the beast," the mark and the beast that is described in the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible. They believed persecution to the point of death will result from such legislation, and various Adventist-aligned ministries are known for their attempts to show the credulity of this belief today, despite statements by experts, Seventh-day Adventist leaders, and Seventh-day Adventist congressmen to the contrary. Some Adventists, in lieu of such statements, have opted for alternative views of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

United States

Arizona

In the state of Arizona, alcohol sales are not permitted between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. However, stores may not start selling alcohol until 10 a.m. on Sundays.

Arkansas

The sale of any "intoxicating alcoholic liquor" on Sunday is prohibited by state law. However, restaurants or hotels that have appropriate alcohol licenses and are in jurisdictions that voted to allow Sunday sales are allowed to serve alcohol on Sunday for on-premises consumption. The same rule applies to large attendance facilities.

California

In the state of California, alcohol sales are not permitted between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Colorado

• The sale of alcohol was prohibited statewide in Colorado on Sundays until July 1, 2008.
• Car sales remain prohibited on Sundays.

Connecticut

Since the founding of the puritanical theological colony of New Haven in 1638, Connecticut had some of the harshest blue laws in the country. Until the 1970s, no stores were allowed to open on Sundays, save Jewish-owned businesses, which had to be closed on Saturdays. To this day, liquor sales and hunting on Sundays are illegal. Stores are not allowed to sell liquor after 9 p.m. and bars and restaurants are forbidden to sell liquor after 2 a.m.

Georgia

Alcohol sales are generally prohibited on Sundays, with some exceptions made at the discretion of local governments. Cities and counties of sufficiently large populations may authorize Sunday alcohol sales by the drink at festivals, large events, and "eating establishments," which are defined as licensed establishments in which most revenue is generated through sales of prepared food.

Illinois

Car sales are prohibited on Sundays. Horse racing is prohibited on Sundays unless authorized by the local municipality.

Indiana

Off-premises alcohol sales are completely prohibited on Sundays. Restaurants and taverns generally still serve it. Additionally, alcohol sales are prohibited Christmas Day and election days until the polls close. Vehicle sales are also banned on Sundays.

Massachusetts

Most Off-premises alcohol sales were not permitted on Sundays until 2004. Exceptions were made in 1990 for municipalities that fell within 10 miles of the New Hampshire or Vermont border. Since 1992 cities and towns statewide were able to sell on Sundays from the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving to New Years Day. In both exceptions sales were not allowed before noon. Since the law changed in 2004, off-premises sales are now allowed anywhere in the state, with local approval, after noon. Retail alcohol sales remain barred on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day (or the Monday following Christmas or New Year's Day should either fall on a Sunday). Hunting on Sunday is prohibited.

Massachusetts also has a "Day of Rest" statute that provides that all employees are entitled to one day off from work in seven calendar days. While this provision retains the blue-law enforcement of a religious practice (weekly rest) recast as a state-beneficial practice, it uncharacteristically neglects to specify any particular weekday.

Michigan

• The sale of alcohol is banned from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 2 a.m. to noon on Sundays. The only exception to this rule is New Year's Eve, in which case alcohol sales are permitted until 4 a.m. Alcohol sale is likewise banned from 9 p.m. Dec. 24 until 7 a.m. Dec. 26. Specific localities may petition for exceptions for either on-site or off-site consumption.
• Additionally, vehicle sales are banned on Sunday, with no exceptions.

Minnesota

• The sale of alcohol in liquor stores is prohibited state-wide on Sundays.
• Car dealerships are not allowed to be open for sales on Sunday

Mississippi

The sale of alcohol is prohibited in most of Mississippi on Sundays. Also, the sale of liquor is not allowed at all in nearly half of the state's counties.

New Jersey

• In 1677, the General Assembly of East New Jersey banned the "singing of vain songs or tunes" on the Sabbath.

One of the last remaining blue laws in the United States that covers virtually all selling is found in Bergen County, New Jersey.

The borough of Paramus, New Jersey, one of the largest shopping meccas in the United States, has four major shopping malls that account for a significant proportion of the over $5 billion in annual retail sales generated in the borough, more than any other ZIP Code in the United States. The borough retains blue laws that are even more restrictive than those imposed in the rest of the county, forbidding all forms of "worldly employment" on Sunday. The borough's ordinance cites the belief that "the physical, intellectual and moral good of the community requires a periodic day of rest from labor" among its reasons for the imposition of the restrictions.

However, repeated attempts to lift the law have failed as voters either see keeping the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend toward increasing hours and days of commercial activity in American society or enjoy the sharply reduced traffic on major roads and highways on Sunday that is normally seen the other days of the week. In fact, a large part of the reason for maintaining the laws has been a desire for relative peace and quiet one day of the week by many Bergen County residents.

This desire for relative peace is most apparent in Paramus, where some of the county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of Route 4 and Route 17, which are jam-packed on many Saturdays. Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County, banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings. Local Blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while the Bergen Mall and Garden State Plaza were under construction. The legislation was motivated by fears that the two new malls would aggravate the already severe highway congestion caused by local retail businesses along the borough's highways.

New York

Alcohol sales are not permitted between 4 AM and 8 AM on Sundays, although the window is being pushed up to 2 AM in certain areas.

North Carolina

• The sale of alcohol on Sundays is prohibited from 2am to 12pm.
• Liquor stores (referred to as ABC stores) are closed on Sunday.

North Dakota

• All retail stores, excluding grocery stores and drug stores, must remain closed between the hours of midnight and noon Sundays.
• Car dealerships can't be open on Sundays.
• Until 1992, all retail stores were to remain closed all day Sunday.

Ohio

Alcohols sales are barred from 2:30-5:30 am on Monday through Saturday and 2:30 am-1:00 pm on Sundays and require an additional license.

Oregon

Main article: Alcohol in Oregon

Oregon was the first place in the U.S. to outlaw alcohol, prior to statehood, in 1844. The law was repealed in 1849. It then implemented prohibition again in 1916, prior to national prohibition. Today, liquor sales are conducted by state-licensed liquor stores; alcohol may be sold for on- or off-premises consumption from 7am to 2:30 a.m. daily.

Pennsylvania

• The sale of alcohol on Sundays was prohibited until 2003. Since then, alcohol may be purchased at bars and restaurants. Since 2005, hours of sales of malt and brewed beverages on Sundays depends on whether beer distributors have obtained a Sunday sales permit from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. For beer distributors without a Sunday sales permit, sales and delivery of malt or brewed beverages can occur from noon until 5:00 p.m. Some wine and spirits stores, which are operated by the state, are selectively open on Sundays.
• To this day, hunting is prohibited on Sundays.
• Car dealerships are also prohibited from being open on Sundays.

South Carolina

Blue laws in South Carolina were first enacted in colonial times, with Sunday being the prescribed day for Christians and Saturday the prescribed day for Jews. While blue laws are still in place throughout the state, counties and cities have the option of repealing most of them.

• As of today, South Carolina blue laws prohibit sporting events and non-essential businesses from operating on Sundays before 1:30 p.m. Many counties and towns in high-tourist areas have repealed this. Places such as gas stations and grocery stores are exempt as well.
• While there are no dry counties in South Carolina, most counties still prohibit Sunday off-premise beer and wine sales. Liquor stores must remain closed on Sundays. Cities and counties may hold a referendum to allow the sale of beer and wine off-premise on Sundays. Restaurants can obtain an exemption to serve on Sundays as well.

From 1950 until 1983, the Southern 500 auto race in Darlington was held on Monday (Labor Day) because of blue laws; a 1983 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman race at Darlington was 250 miles, not the traditional 200 miles, because it was run on the Sunday before the Southern 500. State blue laws mandate a race distance of 250 miles for Sunday races. Also, the inaugural Rebel 300 resulted in a fine for track president Bob Colvin for holding it on a Sunday after the Saturday before was rained out; ironically, the Rebel 500 run 50 years later in 2007 was pushed from Saturday to Sunday and run at 1 PM, with the 250-mile exemption in place.

The 1978 Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston was held on a Sunday, but drew complaints from churches; that led to the race being moved to Saturday in 1979, where it stands. The state's three marathons—in Greenville, Kiawah Island, and Myrtle Beach—are all held on Saturday. Greenville had been held on a Sunday in the first two years (2006-07) as it runs through the Furman University campus. However, complaints have led the third Spinx Run Fest marathon in 2008 being moved to Saturday.

Myrtle Beach has a problem holding a marathon on Sunday, since ten churches are on the marathon courses (listed in order of appearance on course). Eight of the ten churches (exceptions are churches on Mile 12 and 19) are on Kings Highway.

• Mile 9
  • Kingsway Pentecostal Church

• Mile 11
  • First Baptist Church
  • Agape Christian Fellowship
  • First United Methodist Church

• Mile 12
  • Sandy Grove Baptist Church

• Mile 19
  • Faith Presbyterian Church

• Mile 21
  • Ocean View Baptist Church

• Mile 22
  • St. Philips' Lutheran Church

• Mile 23
  • Church of the Nazarene

• Mile 24
  • St. Andrew's Catholic Church
  • Trinity Episcopal Church

Tennessee

• Sale of liquor is prohibited on Sundays with the exception of restaurants and some hotels
• Likewise, all liquor stores are closed on Sunday
• Several Tennessee counties are dry counties (the ownership and operation of stores that sell liquor (anything stronger than beer or wine) is prohibited), and may not sell beer/wine until after noon on Sundays, if it is permitted at all.

Texas

• Beverages of 20% alcohol content or higher are prohibited from sale on Sunday with the exception of establishments that sell food
• Liquor stores closed statewide on Sundays
• Liquor stores open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday
• Beer and wine may be purchased at any open store until 1 a.m. Sunday
• Beer and wine may be purchased at any open store until midnight all other days of the week.
• Last call at bars and clubs all days of the week is at 2 a.m.
• You can only buy beer and wine after 12:00 (noon) Sunday. The rest of the week it may be purchased at 7 a.m.

Utah

• Liquor stores are closed statewide on Sundays.
• Car lots are closed on Sundays.

Virginia

Blue laws were repealed in Virginia in 1988. However, some businesses (including the state owned and operated “ABC “ liquor stores & the Ukrops grocery store chain); still observe them to some extent. Both stores are closed on Sundays (although ABC stores are slowly starting to open on Sunday in larger cities, based on population).

Washington

Washington state's broad prohibition on Sunday business activity was repealed by the initiative process in 1966. The state's Liquor Control Board authorized Sunday liquor sales on a restricted basis in 1967, and in 1976 expanded the hours for those sales to the same as for other days of the week.

West Virginia

The sale of liquor is prohibited statewide on Sundays. Beer and wine may be purchased after 1 pm.

The sale of all alcohol is prohibited on election days.

Canada

Ontario

Until 2006, in much of southern Ontario, it was illegal to hunt using a firearm on Sundays as part of the Lord's Day Act. The issue of whether or not to allow Sunday gun hunting has now been left up to each municipality to decide, many of them now allowing Sunday gun hunting.

Israel

Running most public transportation from Friday evenings to Saturday evenings is banned in Israel, at least as of the summer of 2008.

Court cases

The concept of a secular day of rest, not directly related to a religious day of rest, has been adduced as justification for retention of restrictions on commercial activity on Sunday.

The Supreme Court of Canada, in the case of R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., [1985] (1 S.C.R. 295) ruled that the 1906 Lord's Day Act that required most places to be closed on Sunday did not have a legitimate secular purpose, and was an unconstitutional attempt to establish a religious-based closing law in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the court later concluded, in R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd., [1986] (2 S.C.R. 713) that Ontario's Retail Business Holiday Act, which required some Sunday closings, did not violate the Charter because it did not have a religious purpose.

The Supreme Court of the United States held in its landmark case, McGowan v. Maryland (1961), that Maryland's blue laws violated neither the Free Exercise Clause nor the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It approved the state's blue law restricting commercial activities on Sunday, noting that while such laws originated to encourage attendance at Christian churches, the contemporary Maryland laws were intended to serve "to provide a uniform day of rest for all citizens" on a secular basis and to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest. That this day coincides with the Christian Sabbath is not a bar to the state's secular goals; it neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days.

There were four landmark Sunday-law cases altogether in 1961. The other three were Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Mass., Inc., 366 U.S. 617 (1961); Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599 (1961); Two Guys from Harrison vs. McGinley, 366 U.S. 582 (1961).

According to KVIA-TV El Paso, in March 2006 Texas judges upheld the state Blue Law that requires car dealerships to close either Saturday or Sunday each weekend.

See also

• Desuetude
• Dry county
• Neo-prohibitionism
• Raines law
• Sharia
• Sunday shopping
• Theocracy