August 3, 2019. It was also called “river league”, a snide commentary on the perception of the lesser morals present along the riverfronts and docks in several of the participating cities. The court found, “In light of the evolution of our Sunday Closing Laws through the centuries, and of their more or less recent emphasis upon secular considerations, it is not difficult to discern that as presently written and administered, most of them, at least, are of a secular rather than of a religious character, and that presently they bear no relationship to establishment of religion”. Jan Howard, The Newtown Bee. Online, “The Long, Ambiguous History of Connecticut’s Blue Laws”. 9. Article, Jewish Telegraphic Agency Archives. Answer: Welcome to Boston, J.T.! The first state to ratify the 18 th Amendment, which imposed Prohibition as the law of the land in the United States, was Mississippi. Pernell Watson, Daily Press. Florida. But it nonetheless found them constitutional. By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff, 11/23/2003. Some counties in Florida prohibit alcohol and sex toy sales on Sundays and during certain hours of the day. For example, the law in Kentucky making it illegal to work on Sunday (with, of course, certain exemptions) remained in effect in 2018, though it hadn’t been enforced for decades. 2004, “U.S. The blue laws … October 5, 2000, “Blue Laws”. Jon Butler. Blue laws are laws that prohibit certain types of activities on Sundays. A song title which sums up the writers thoughts regarding Prohibition and blue laws. Several states in the south had significant portions of them completely dry, while others had restrictions on Sunday sales. In 1896, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, opined with regard to Sunday blue laws: ... or puritanical. Gradually the National League eased its restraints on Sunday play and beer sales and several teams in the AA defected to the older and more established “senior circuit”. December 27, 1999. “Blue Laws Were Meant to Keep Sunday Holy”. Illinois. These laws may also include mandatory store closings on Sunday. Massachusetts did not allow off-premises alcohol sales on Sunday until the 21st century either. Once Prohibition was repealed, states established blue laws to restrict and control the sale of alcohol within their boundaries. Many states blue laws did not allow the purchase of appliances on Sunday. Anita Beatty-Hoffman, Sheperdstown Chronicle. In Toronto, theaters were dark on Sunday, and those wishing to see a play or take in a movie were forced to consider other forms of entertainment. Additionally, when did the blue law end in Missouri? Most states however continued to enforce liquor laws on Sunday which differed from the other six days of the week, and several continued to ban the sales of automobiles on Sunday (or Saturday, in some cases). Effective July 15, 2008, all violations of Massachusetts wage and hour laws will be subject to mandatory treble (triple) damages, even when employers have acted in good faith and took reasonable steps to comply with wage payment laws. Until 1974, when the General Assembly began exempting a variety of retail stores and the operations of the agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries, most … The tax revenues left the state with them. Ellen Debenport, UPI. Most colonial edicts have gone the … Online. If you have questions about possible violations of these laws, please contact the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division at (617) 727-3465 . They also decided to play games on Sunday afternoons. It was officially known as the American Association, but the league was referred to by supporters of the National League as the “beer and whisky league”. The exemptions showed an awareness that the good citizens of the Commonwealth would simply visit their northern neighbors for their Sunday purchases. §§ 41-3852-3863 (Rep. Vol. Denmark had strict laws banning trade on Sundays until 2012. Retail alcohol sales remai… August 6, 1984. Delaware. Mississippi long enforced Sunday closing laws in numerous communities, despite legal challenges to the laws. Where did the term come from? Not all blue laws existed from colonial times. North Dakota became a state in 1889, and when it did nearly all businesses were required by law to remain closed on Sunday. The profitability of Major League Baseball led to the easing of Sunday Blue laws in several eastern cities. Online, “Blue laws as old as the South”. Online, “Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People”. This perceived requirement resulted in the enactment of a variety of laws designed to regulate the conduct of all members of society. ANN. The repeal measure carried by a 1,092 vote margin. Law Now Requires Triple Damages for Wage Violations. Several Georgia communities allowed Sunday sales in the 21st century, though the state mandated none before 12.30 in the afternoon, in deference to church services. But as a matter of practicality it offered exemptions to liquor stores which were within ten miles of the New Hampshire and Vermont state lines. By the 1950s 46 of the 48 states had blue laws which controlled commerce on Sunday, and only a few allowed some businesses to choose between closing on Saturday or Sunday. August 29, 1984, “Studies relaunch debate on further liberalization of shop opening hours”. January 27, 2015, “John Winthrop: America’s Forgotten Founder”. The case was argued before the California Supreme Court (Ex Parte Newman), which overturned the sentence of the merchant and the law. Mississippi’s blue laws prohibited the sale of alcohol on Sundays, in all its forms, except for on-premises consumption of beer. In several states one could purchase eggs, but not a pan in which to cook them. Some Canadian communities restricted the availability of leisure activities on Sunday until well into the 1960s. Unless that business was a car dealership or dispenser of alcohol. New York Tribune commentary on Sunday laws. Blue Laws By State 2020. The argument from the clergy was that shopping was in danger of becoming a national obsession. Until the 1990s in Great Britain, laws restricted the buying and selling of certain items on Sunday, and limited the types of stores and shops which could open for business. Since 1992, alcohol sales have been allowed statewide from the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving until New Year's Day. The law was finally rescinded in the 21st century, allowing stores to be open all day Sunday (including some 24-hour stores) throughout the state, at the discretion of the business owner. ... from old-fashioned games and candy to high end… Library of Congress. Up until 2003, Delaware banned the sale of liquor on Sundays. In 1881 in a Cincinnati Hotel, the owners of several teams formed a new league, which allowed each team to decide whether or not to sell alcohol in their respective ballparks (in accordance with community laws). 2010, “The Crazy Quilt of Blue Laws”. Ken Sheldon, Yankee Magazine. It has, along with most of the rest of the nation, gradually yielded to the demands of citizens for more freedom to shop on Sundays. Generally, if a retailer has more than 7 employees, the retailer must pay its workers premium pay for work done on a Sunday or Holiday. Two years later, the Blue Law was repealed in Cape County on Nov. 6, 1984. The Department of Labor Standards has authority over the statewide approval of local permits allowing businesses to open on Columbus Day, … Under the "blue laws" of the 1700s, the punishments could be invoked for simple misdeeds ranging from shuffleboard to skipping church. Wikimedia. Online, “The Old Blue Laws of Maryland”. Blue laws, in nearly all cases, forced them to comply with the mandated Sunday closure as well. A few years later most businesses could open on the Sabbath, again not before noon. October 21, 2016, “The Puritan Experiment with Sumptuary Legislation”. An example of a law of this kind, which collectively have become known as “blue laws,” would be a law declaring that it shall be illegal to sell alcohol on Sundays. David Nemec. There are exemptions, but those situations are rare and based on circumstance. The Blue Laws of the Colony of Connecticut are an invented set of harsh statutes governing conduct in the Puritan colony, listed in a history of Connecticut that was published in 1781 in London by the Reverend Samuel Peters, an Anglican who had been forced to leave America. Horse racing was banned on Sundays in many jurisdictions. There are currently 28 states with blue laws, and the laws vary by each state, and different … Frightening a pigeon. Indiana. During the heyday of blue laws, only Alaska, Montana and Nevada were without Sunday closing statutes. Pinterest. It was used to convict and imprison a Jewish clothing merchant who closed his business on Saturday, and opened it on Sunday. What states have blue laws? The blue laws across the country created a hodge-podge of what could or could not be bought by consumers on Sunday. 1977); Edward O’Flaherty, Rodney L. Petersen, Timothy A. Norton. This is where you’ll end up if you dare to have your gorilla ride in the backseat. In common parlance, the term blue law was expanded to include several different areas of behavior: Canada’s Lord’s Day Act (1906) restricted business transacted on Sunday until it was found to be a violation of freedom of conscience in 1985. With respect to premium pay, the Massachusetts Blue Laws most commonly apply to retail workers. Most off-premises alcohol sales were not permitted on Sundays until 2004. Miami University Library. Since the law changed in 2004, off-premises sales are now allowed anywhere in the state, with local approval, after noon. September 29, 2002, “Sunday Sport Comes to Pennsylvania”. Francis Bremer. The first state to ratify the 18th Amendment, which imposed Prohibition as the law of the land in the United States, was Mississippi. Some such restrictions date to as early as the thirteenth century in England. Article, Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Alcohol sales were also banned on Christmas day. Library of Congress. Massachusetts… To measure that competition, they studied the large number of states that repealed their blue laws over the past 50 years. Online, “Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend: Managing Time in a Global Culture”. The requirement is a holdover from a time when Massachusetts' "blue laws" ruled and the pace of life slowed one day a week. Patrick J. Mahoney, Connecticut History. Report, KFGO Fargo. In both exceptions sales were not allowed before noon. Most communities required merchants to rope off, barricade with signage, or otherwise signify items which were forbidden on Sunday. Blue Laws. J. Thomas Jable, Pennsylvania State University. Resistance to repeal of most blue laws came primarily from the clergy, though before Sunday shopping became commonplace throughout most of the country many businessmen agreed with the religious leaders. On February 20, 1923 a minister told people to obey the Sunday Closing law or leave the country. Several states banned Sunday car sales in the United States in the 1940s and 50s. North Dakota lawmakers argued that women should be home cooking for their families on Sunday, rather than shopping, NPR. Blue laws (Etyonline) Blue laws in the United States; Blue Laws/Sunday Closing Laws; Caldor’s Inc. v. Bedding Barn, Inc., 417 A.2d 343 (Conn. 1979) Etymology of Blue Laws; Fun Facts: Blue Laws of the USA – Part 1; Fun Facts: Blue Laws of the USA – Part 2; List of dry communities by U.S. state; McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420 (1961) The league yielded to temperance pressure and did not allow alcohol consumption by fans attending the games. Puritan church members in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and later, Congregationalists elsewhere in New England, believed that their contractual relationship with God required them to enforce proper behavior in their communities. After national repeal in 1933, the states had the choice of remaining dry or allowing alcohol to be bought and sold within them, and Mississippi chose the former. Cincinnati, Ohio, birthplace of the American Association, in the 1880s. 1990, “The Beer and Whisky League: The Illustrated History of the American Association – Baseball’s Renegade Major League”. In 1994 the law was changed, allowing large stores to open for six hours of trading within the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM. STAT. Alexandra Scheele, Eurofound. Massachusetts has laws on their books known as Blue Laws. 6. The law reads, in part, “Whoever wilfully kills pigeons upon, or frightens them … I’ve heard about Massachusetts’ blue laws, but where did they come from, and why are they blue? ALA. CODE § 13-6-1 (1975); ARK. In May of 1650, the General Court of Connecticut adopted what became known as the First Connecticut Code. Filed by Rep. Mathew Muratore, the bill (H. 1752) would remove the time-and-a-half pay for workers at retail stores, the only industry subject to such a requirement. BOSTON — Massachusetts is one of two states that requires retail workers to be paid time-and-a-half on Sundays, a practice that could end under a bill that's advancing in the House. February 10, 2017, “No driving, liquor, or films: Michigan blue laws prevented secular activities on Sunday”. Hawaii had blue laws when it was a territory, but not after it achieved statehood in 1959; the District of Columbia also had no blue laws. Blame the Puritans”. June 1, 1974. While these laws have existed throughout American history, most people associate them with the late 1800s and the early 1900s, when the Progressives were a powerful group, seeking to reform … The first was found unconstitutional just five months after it was enacted. The code was the result of work undertaken by Roger Ludlow, who, in 1646, set out to amend the preexisting Capital Laws of 1642, which were mostly borrowings from those of neighboring Many prohibited the sale of alcohol on Sundays, though for most states the sale of alcohol both for on-premises consumption and packaged were gradually eased. I hate both these states… and I hate them even more due to the fact that my pistol permit is basically useless. Depending on how far one wanted to travel, Sunday purchase of alcohol was possible in Massachusetts even while the law said it was not. —J.T., Somerville. The so-called blue laws of Massachusetts are passing the way of the stocks and pillory. The term blue law commonly refers to the prohibition of alcohol sales on Sunday, but it historically defined a body of regulations designed to preserve the Sabbath by proscribing most labor on that day.. I can buy beer until 9 but only hard liquor till 8 on sunday. Subsequently, one may also ask, when was the blue law in effect? The requirement to remain closed until noon was based on the desire to prevent commerce from competing with church attendance. Peters' book popularized the term "blue laws", referring to laws restricting activities on Sunday. Delaware. So “blue” in this sense, would refer to the “high” morality of the laws. Massachusetts also required retail workers be paid time and a half for Sunday labor, which was later repealed. California twice passed Sunday closing laws, in 1858 and in 1861. Florida. Twice the North Dakota law was challenged in the state’s Supreme Court, and twice the law was upheld. UPI, The New York Times. 14 March 1963 . Mississippi’s blue laws were linked to its temperance history. Which states have blue laws? The Massachusetts Blue Laws control hours of operation for certain businesses and require some businesses to pay extra compensation (known as "premium pay") on Sundays and some legal holidays. 2003, “Blue Laws: When Puritan Values Were the Law”. In 1876 the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed, with teams representing Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, New York, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville. Wikimedia. Maine. Pdf. In the 1920s there were many controversies over Sunday Closing or “Blue Laws.” See January 2, 1921 (when it was revealed that only California and Oregon did not have any such law). Some items of clothing could be purchased while others could not. The name may derive from Samuel A. Peters’s General History of Connecticut (1781), which purported to list the stiff Sabbath regulations at New Haven, Connecticut; the work was printed on blue paper. 1961 . The second law remained in effect until 1883. Blue Laws By State 2020. Wikimedia. The term Blue Law was first mentioned in 1781, some decades after they existed. Blue Laws. The 1961 decision by the Supreme Court acknowledged that the blue laws, in Maryland and elsewhere, were based in the religious control of colonial governments. Nor did it allow games to be scheduled for Sundays. Christian owned businesses generally opposed the choice, since they could permanently lose customers by closing on Sunday when Jewish-owned businesses were opened. In several states electronics such as computers, calculators, radios, and televisions were banned. These laws are enforced by the Attorney General's Office. Maryland. "That policy-driven change in state laws allowed us to identify secular competition, as opposed to interreligious competition, which had been studied before," Gruber says. (Massachusetts, for example, repealed its blue laws in 1994.) Blue Laws Hold Massachusetts and Rhode Island Back on Black Friday. States and in some cases counties banned the sale of housewares, appliances, decorations, tools, linens, and many other items. The state had banned alcohol within its boundaries a full decade earlier, in 1908. Several teams defected. Wikimedia. The legislation came at the height of King Philip's War, a … Then it was extended to 1.p.m. 8. May 31, 1961, “ND stores to open Sunday morning after “blue law” ended Thursday”. A dozen states still have some form of Sunday-closing laws on their books, vestiges of religiously inspired codes dating to the New England Pilgrims, who used to print them on blue paper. Still, restrictions on Sunday sales remained in effect in many places, as part of state law as well as local laws. Email to a friend Permalink. Stateside Staff, NPR. The Massachusetts General Court enacted the law, called the Indian Imprisonment Act, in 1675. The annual event of the World Series began when the champions of the competing leagues played each other. The labor laws in that state require employers to pay their employees an overtime rate of one and one half their base pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Up until 2003, Delaware banned the sale of liquor on Sundays. In 1985 groceries were allowed to open on Sunday, but not until noon. Northern Ireland protected the Sabbath by prohibiting football played on Sunday until 2008 (Irish Football Association). In the United States, judges have defended blue laws "in terms of their secular benefit to workers", holding that "the laws were essential to social well-being". This means that the minimum wage such a worker can earn on a Sunday or holiday is $13.50 per hour. Jewish businesses found Sunday laws particularly costly. Blue laws which required the closing of businesses on Sundays were particularly hard on American Jews who observed the Sabbath on Saturdays, closing their businesses and suspending work. Eventually it changed to require retailers to remain closed until noon on Sunday, and then restricted what items could be sold. Wikimedia. Puritan church members in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and later, Congregationalists elsewhere in New England, believed that their contractual relationship with God required them to enforce proper behavior in their communities. When counties and municipalities were allowed to choose wet or dry within the state, many elected to remain alcohol free. The vote was 12,312 in favor of repeal to 11,220 opposed. By the end of the 20th century most Sunday closing laws had been eased, though in the Bible Belt local communities continued to enforce them. Supreme Court Upholds ‘Blue Laws’ Banning Trading on Sundays”. The gun laws in Massachusetts are as queer as a 3 dollar bill. if(typeof __ez_fad_position != 'undefined'){__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-u_s_history_com-medrectangle-3-0')}; Brought to you by Online Highways © 2021. In its strictest sense, “blue law”* refers to an edict designed to regulate public activities on the Sabbath, which meant Sunday to the Congregationalists of that day. July 12, 2018. Some argued that the same amount of spending would take place each week, stretched over seven days rather than six, but there would be an increase in operating costs by paying workers for an additional day. After a 200-year ban based in Puritan tradition, Massachusetts liquor stores will gain the freedom to remain open seven days a week year-round starting next week, when Governor Mitt Romney plans to sign into law a measure ending the longtime state prohibition on … Exceptions were made in 1990 for municipalities that were within 10 miles of the New Hampshire or Vermontborder. The end of national Prohibition did not end it in Mississippi for many years. Online, “Blue laws? Sunday liquor sale ban to end Romney to sign law lifting the prohibition. The argued that the day of rest represented by the Sabbath would become a stressful day, ignoring the fact that many people considered shopping a recreational activity. The end of national Prohibition did not end it in Mississippi for many years. Massachusetts blue laws Restrictions on business openings on Sundays and holidays, also known as the Massachusetts blue laws, are enforced by the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division. In the United States, many states still have blue laws on the books, but simply ignore them. Gary North, Foundation for Economic Education. The law also continued the ban on the sale of alcohol on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, as well as establishing 6 PM as the latest hour alcohol could be sold on Christmas Eve. California’s blue laws gradually faded from disuse, as did the corresponding laws in many states, while others moved to enforce them more stringently. Several states continued to restrict hunting on Sundays. The ban on Sunday automobile sales was continued, and alcohol sales were not allowed before noon on Sunday (though they could continue until 2.00 AM). Blue law, in U.S. history, a law forbidding certain secular activities on Sunday. It continued to enforce statewide prohibition until 1966. NOW.. 23.