Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Clear as mud

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The legislature has been hard at work on the laws I love to hate: the blue laws.  This week, the legislature (reportedly at the urging of Tom Reilly) passed, and the Quittster signed, a bill designed to “clarify” how the blue laws work when Christmas falls on a Sunday (as it does this year).  Let’s examine their handiwork.

The basic Sunday closing law, ch. 136 sec. 5, reads:

Whoever on Sunday keeps open his shop, warehouse, factory or other place of business, or sells foodstuffs, goods, wares, merchandise or real estate, or does any manner of labor, business or work, except works of necessity and charity, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for a first offense, and a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars for each subsequent offense, and each unlawful act or sale shall constitute a separate offense.

Clear enough.  I don’t like it, obviously, but I understand it.

But wait – on to section 6, which contains 55 numbered paragraphs, each an exception to section 5.  The list (as I’ve noted before) is unbelievable – it includes libraries, public bathhouses, “the letting of horses,” selling tires, selling ice, etc.  The exception we’re interested in is the first part of paragraph 50, which before this week said that section 5 did not apply to:

The keeping open of a store or shop and the sale at retail of goods therein, but not including the retail sale of goods subject to chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, and the performance of labor, business, and work directly connected therewith on Sunday; provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply to any legal holiday as defined in this chapter; and provided, further, that any store or shop which qualifies for exemption under this clause but does not qualify for exemption under any other clause in this section shall not open for business on Sunday prior to the hour of noon. In any year in which Christmas Day occurs on a Sunday, this exemption shall not apply to said Sunday but shall apply to the day following.

Whew – talk about tortured legalese!  Fortunately, the powers that be are on the case, and thought that redrafting that paragraph was crucial enough to be deemed “an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.”  As of Thursday, the new version reads:

The keeping open of a store or shop and the sale at retail of goods therein, but not including the retail sale of goods subject to chapter 138, and the performance of labor, business, and work directly connected therewith on Sunday. This exemption shall not apply to any legal holiday as defined in clause eighteenth of section 7 of chapter 4, but this exemption shall apply to

the day following Christmas Day when Christmas occurs on a Sunday. In any year in which Christmas Day occurs on a Sunday, this exemption shall not apply to that Sunday.

Well, thank goodness we got that cleared up!

Look, even if you like the idea of the state legislating when stores may and may not open, can’t you agree that these laws are about the worst possible way to impose those requirements?  They are practically incomprehensible, and this week’s “clarification” is akin to replacing dark mud with mud of a slightly lighter hue.

Oh, and can anyone explain to me why this new provision isn’t a big ol’ Establishment Clause violation?

All stores and shops which sell goods at retail may be open at any time on Sundays and on Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day, but no such stores and shops may be open on Christmas Day if Christmas occurs on a Sunday.

Ah.  So people can be forced to work on the day commemorating the birth of our country, but not on the day commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.  And don’t give me any of that “spend time with the family” business – July 4th is as much of a family holiday as any.  These are bad laws, and they should be eliminated.

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