A blue law is a type of law in the United States and Canada designed to enforce moral standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Most have been repealed, declared unconstitutional or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays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. ^[1]

In the Cook Islands, blue laws were first written legislation, enacted by the London Missionary Society in 1827, with the consent of ariki (chiefs). The Cook Islands ( Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani) are a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational Missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Year 1827 ( MDCCCXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Alii is the hereditary chiefly or noble rank ( class, Caste) in traditional Hawaiian society In Tonga, the Vava'u Code (1839) was inspired by Methodist missionary teachings, and was a form of blue law. The Kingdom of Tonga is an Archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean comprising 169 islands 36 of them inhabited stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 miles The Vava'u Code was instituted in Vava'u, Tonga in 1839 by Tu'i Tonga ( King) George Tupou I. Year 1839 ( MDCCCXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Methodism is a movement within Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. In Niue, certain activities remain forbidden on Sunday, reflecting the country's strong Christian heritage. Niue (niːˈʔuːeɪ/ /ˈnjuːeɪ in English is an Island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. Niue was first settled by Polynesian Sailors from Samoa in around 900 AD.

History

The first usage of the term blue law may have been by the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) in his 1781 book General History of Connecticut. Reverend Samuel Andrew Peters (1735–1826 was a Connecticut Anglican clergyman and historian 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). A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, 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). Pornographic films are Motion pictures with the purpose of promoting sexual arousal in the viewer often featuring depictions of sexual activity 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. ^[2] 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. A false etymology is an assumed or postulated Etymology that current consensus among scholars of Historical linguistics holds to be incorrect 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 Sabbath during the mid to late nineteenth century. Laws targeted numerous groups including saloon owners, Jews, Seventh-day Adventists, and non-religious peoples. The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance 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. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Ladenschlussgesetz or "Shop Closing Law" (abbreviated LadSchlG) is the federal law regulating at which times retail

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

In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling housewares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. In Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, 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. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Oklahoma ( is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Maryland permits Sunday automobile sales only in the counties of Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard. Prince George's County is located in the US state of Maryland located immediately north east and south of Washington D Montgomery County of the US state of Maryland is situated just north of Washington D Howard County is a County located in the central part of the U Texas and Utah prohibit car dealerships from operating over consecutive weekend days. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. 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. ^[3]

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). The development of the culture of the United States of America — music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον 'pharmakon' = drug is the Health profession that links the Health sciences with the chemical sciences

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. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, ^[4]

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always taken a stance against blue laws. The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance Churchmembers keep the Sabbath on Saturday, 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.

Bergen County, New Jersey

One of the last remaining blue laws in the United States that covers virtually all selling is found in Bergen County, New Jersey. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Bergen County is the most populous County of the state of New Jersey, United States. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States.

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. Paramus (pəˈræməs is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The ZIP code is the system of Postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS ^[5] 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. ^[6]

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. ^[7]

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 (pəˈræməs is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Route 4 is a State highway in Bergen County and Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, that is also known as the Mackay Highway Route 17 is a 2720-mile (4377 km State highway in New Jersey, United States, providing a major route from the George Washington Bridge, Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County,^[8] banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings. ^[7] Local Blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while the Bergen Mall and Garden State Plaza were under construction. Bergen Town Center, known as the Bergen Mall until 2006 is located in Paramus and Maywood, New Jersey, United States, and opened Westfield Garden State Plaza is a large upscale Shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey, United States, owned and managed by the Westfield 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. ^[9]

Colorado

The sale of alcohol is prohibited statewide in Colorado on Sundays. This will be reversed on the 1st of July 2008. ^[10]

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. The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662. 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.

Georgia

The sale of alcohol is prohibited statewide in Georgia on Sundays. on Sundays in Cobb and Fulton counties alcohol can be purchased by the drink

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.

As of today, South Carolina blue laws prohibit sporting events on Sundays, with a few exceptions for collegiate events.

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, and blue laws were modified to set a minimum race distance of 250 miles for Sunday races. The Southern 500 is the annual spring NASCAR Sprint Cup race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington South Carolina, USA The NASCAR Nationwide Series is a Stock car racing series owned and operated by the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. 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.

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 Cooper River Bridge Run is an annual 10000 meter Road running event held in the cities of Mount Pleasant and Charleston in South Carolina Most of the state's marathons are on Saturday because of numerous churches on marathon courses in South Carolina, with Greenville being the exception; that race can be held on Sunday because it runs through the Furman University campus.

Utah

Liquor stores are closed statewide on Sundays.

Virginia

Blue laws were repealed in Virginia in 1988, but some businesses (most notably the Ukrops grocery store chain) still observe them to some extent or other.

West Virginia

The sale of alcohol is prohibited statewide in West Virginia on Sundays. In some counties beer and wine may be purchased after 1 pm.

Canada

Until 2006, in 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. [1]

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. The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd, 1 SCR 295 is a landmark decision by Supreme Court of Canada where the Court struck down the Lord's Day Act 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. Secularity ( adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from Religion. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the However, the court later concluded, in R. v. Edwards Books and Art Ltd., [1986] (2 S. Background In 1983 four Ontario retail stores Edwards Books and Art Longo Brothers Fruit Markets, Paul Magder and Nortown Foods were charged with violating the 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. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. McGowan v Maryland, 366 US 420 ( 1961) was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that laws with religious origins The Free Exercise Clause is the accompanying clause with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment refers to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating that " The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress 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. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A Sabbath or sabbath is generally a weekly day of rest and/or time of Worship that is observed in any of several faiths 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. In Christianity, the Sabbath is generally a weekly religious Day of rest as ordained by one of the Ten Commandments (the third by Roman Catholic ^[11] The status of blue laws vis-à-vis the Free Exercise Clause conceivably would have to be re-evaluated if challenged by an adherent of a religion which required the conduct of commerce on Sunday.

There were four landmark Sunday-law cases altogether in 1961. The other three were Gallagher vs. Crown Kosher Supermarket, 366 U. S. 617 (1961); Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U. Braunfeld v Brown, 366 US 599 ( 1961) was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. S. 599 (1961); Two Guys from Harrison vs. McGinley, 366 U. S. 582 (1961). ^[12]

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. KVIA-TV is an ABC affiliate in El Paso Texas. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 7 and its digital signal on UHF channel 17 ^[13]

In Israel

The term "Blue law" does not exist in Israel, but a body of similar legislation exists there, usually referred to as "Religious Laws" (חוקים דתיים). A major aspect of such laws is observance of the Jewish Shabbat. Shabbat or Shabbos ( Hebrew: שַׁבָּת, shabbāt, shabbes, "rest/inactivity" is the Weekly Sabbath Public transportation does not operate on this day, and commerce is prohibited, except in areas where there is a mainly non-Jewish population. Jewish citizens of Israel are forbidden to work on Shabbat and in case of violation both the worker and the employer may be fined. However, a legal loophole makes it possible to have shops open on Shabbat in shopping malls erected since the 1990s outside city limits, especially on land belonging to Kibbutzim, leading to merchants in the city centers, subject to the prohibition, increasingly complaining of unfair competition. A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in

When the Israel Broadcasting Authority started television service in 1968, an attempt was made to prohibit broadcasts on Shabbat, which was rejected by the Israeli Supreme Court. Israel Broadcasting Authority (often referred to as the IBA; רָשׁוּת השׁידוּר Rashùt Ha-Shidúr) is Israel 's state broadcasting The Supreme Court ( Hebrew: בית המשפט העליון Beit haMishpat ha'Elyon) is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel.

See also

• Neo-prohibitionism
• Sunday shopping

References