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The legal principle that the King is subject to the law was a relatively recent invention in English law (from
which American law has descended). In a 17th century case called 'the Case of the Proclamations', King James I
decreed that London was getting too big, and so no more building would be allowed. He was taken to court by a (brave!)
subject who claimed that the law wasn't valid because Parliament didn't agree. The King claimed that he was King,
and so what he said went. The courts replied: 'The King hath no power nor prerogative in this realm save what the
law of the land allows him.' and thus the principle behind the Separation of Powers was established. [Source: Constitutional
& Administrative Law degree course]
Anthony Zachary from London (2 December 1997)
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It is illegal to sell an ET doll in France. They have a law forbidding the sale of dolls that do not have human
faces.
Matto from U of Minn. (3 October 1997)
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After a bloody civil war in 1948, Costa Rica disbanded its army and passed a law forbidding the maintenance of
a standing army. Its police officers don't carry guns. The only armed force in the country are the border guards,
who carry rifles [Source: Useless Facts]
(30 January 1999)
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Bill Clinton signed into effect a law specifying Lake Champlain (between New York and Vermont) as the sixth Great
Lake. [Source: Useless Facts]
(30 January 1999)
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In Tennesse, it's illegal for a female to drive a motor vehicle, unless there's a man on the hood of the car, with
a shot gun which is used to shoot off rounds of ammunition to alert oncoming drivers that there is a women at the
wheel. [Source: Useless Facts]
(30 January 1999)
Amend, Discuss, Correct
It is always helpful to have a law that clearly defines when a person is legally intoxicated. In Kentucky, anyone
who has been drinking is considered sober until he or she cannot hold onto the ground. [Source: Useless Facts]
(30 January 1999)
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According to Harper's Index, 550 Harvard law students were required to read 'Juice: The O. J. Simpson Tragedy.'
[Source: Useless Facts]
(29 January 1999)
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Boston's Blue Laws were written on blue paper. Green cards, issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
are actually white. [Source: Useless Facts]
(29 January 1999)
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Salt Lake City, Utah, has a law against carrying an unwrapped ukulele on the street. [Source: Useless Facts]
(29 January 1999)
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While considered common promotions in the U.S., sweepstakes are prohibited in Belgium and couponing is illegal
in Greece. [Source: Useless Facts]
(29 January 1999)
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In Kentucky, it is illegal to marry your wife's grandmother.
(15 September 1997)
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'The lawgiver, of all beings, most owes the law allegiance. He of all men should behave as though the law compelled
him. But it is the universal weakness of mankind that what we are given to administer we presently imagine we own.'
-- H.G. Wells [Source: Quotes]
(21 January 1999)
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In Texas, it's illegal to put graffiti on someone else's cow.
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Texas law forbids carrying around a fence cutter or a pair of pliers that could cut fence.
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The phrase "rule of thumb" is taken from an old English law stating that a husband could not beat his
wife with anything thicker than his thumb.
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The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When
it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregati on laws requiring separate
toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
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It's against the law to catch fish with your bare hands in Kansas.
Amend, Discuss, Correct
