Scary old laws

CNN had a piece today about archaic laws on the books that are sometimes enforced, much to the surprise of some folks. The piece was overall light-hearted, talking about weird laws like this one:

A 1974 Tennessee law states: "It is unlawful for any person to import, possess, or cause to be imported into this state any type of live skunk."

However the article did cite several examples where someone has used archaic laws to pursue a personal agenda, such as the disturbing case below. I for one hope this lady wins and gets some kind of restitution:

Sheriff Carson Smith of Pender County, North Carolina, recently relied on a 1805 law banning the cohabitation of unmarried persons to give one of his employees an ultimatum.

He told Deborah Hobbs she could either marry her boyfriend, move out of the house they were living in together or get fired. Hobbs, 40, quit and went to the American Civil Liberties Union, which launched a legal challenge to the law.

The scary part is that similar laws are present in many states. Here's the original article:

Odd laws sometimes still have bite