|
Blue laws —known also as Sunday laws—are laws designed to restrict or ban some or all Sunday activities for religious reasons, particularly to promote the observance of a day of worship or rest. Blue laws may also restrict shopping or ban sale of certain items on specific days, most often on Sundays in the western world. Some Islamic nations may ban on Fridays. Blue laws are enforced in parts of the United States as well as some European countries, particularly in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway keeping most stores closed on Sundays. In the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court have held blue laws as constitutional numerous times due to allegedly secular rationalizations, even though the origin of the blue laws were for religious purposes. Blue laws are technically classed as "mala prohibita," or "harms created solely by the act of legislation" (as opposed to "mala in se" or "inherent wrongs"). Most blue laws have been repealed in the United States, although many states still ban the sale of alcoholic beverages or cars on Sundays. Bergen County, New Jersey is notable for their blue laws banning the sale of clothing, shoes, furniture, home supplies and appliances on Sundays kept through county-wide referendum.〔(Kyle G. Volk, "Fighting for the Right to Party on Sundays: How the struggle over blue laws changed American politics," Humanities (July/August 2015) )〕 Paramus, New Jersey has its own blue laws even more strict than the county itself, banning any type of secular employment on Sundays except necessity items such as food and gasoline. ==History== The first occurrence of the phrase ''blue law'' so far found is in the ''New-York Mercury'' of March 3, 1755, where the writer imagines a future newspaper praising the revival of "our Connecticut's old Blue Laws". In his 1781 book ''General History of Connecticut'', the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735–1826) used it to describe various laws first enacted by Puritan colonies in the 17th century that prohibited various activities, recreational as well as commercial, on Sunday (Saturday evening through Sunday night). 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 that blue laws were originally printed on blue paper. Rather, the word ''blue'' was used in the 17th century as a disparaging reference to rigid moral codes and those who observed them, particularly in ''blue-stocking'', a reference to Oliver Cromwell's supporters in the parliament of 1653.〔''Oxford English Dictionary''.〕 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.〔(Snopes.com: American "blue laws" were so named because they were originally printed on blue paper. ). Retrieved July 12, 2006.〕 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 of which is that the laws were first bound in books with blue covers. As Protestant moral reformers organized the Sabbath reform in nineteenth-century America, calls for the enactment and/or enforcement of stricter Sunday laws developed. Numerous Americans were arrested for working, keeping an open shop, drinking alcohol, traveling, and recreating on Sundays. Beginning in the 1840s, Catholic immigrants, workingmen, Jews, Seventh Day Baptists, free-thinkers, and other groups began to organize opposition. Throughout the century, Sunday laws served as a major source of church-state controversy and as an issue that drove the emergence of modern American minority-rights politics.〔Kyle G. Volk (2014), ''(Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy )''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019937192X.〕 Many European countries still place strong restrictions on store opening hours on Sundays, an example being Germany's Ladenschlussgesetz. 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, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Jersey, 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 Charles, Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard; similarly, Michigan restricts Sunday sales to only those counties with a population of less than 130,000. 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.〔(Good Question: Why Can't We Buy Alcohol On Sunday? ), WCCO-TV, November 20, 2006 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「blue law」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|