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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2004 :  19:59:08  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
So it seems that Virginia once had a law which stated that if an employer forces a person to work on the day of the week the employee considers to be his/her "day of rest," the employer faces fines along with having to pay the employee triple-time for the work.

It also seems that this law was repealed, long ago.

An absulote torrent of new laws went into effect yesterday in Virginia, including one which repealed four sections of old laws. Accidentally, the fourth one repealed was the one which repealed the old "blue law," bringing that original law back into effect.

A court has wisely ordered that a 90-day injuction go into effect against repealing the repeal of the blue law, at the urging of just about every retail and hospitality establishment in the state. The Fourth of July would be absolute murder on employers if they were legally forced to pay triple-time to most of their employees.

I heard a report about all this on NPR during my commute home tonight, and a Virginia legislator said he was glad for the injunction, but unhappy that the judge did not (and apparently will not) simply declare the original blue law unconstitutional and be done with it.

The funniest part (funny to me, at least) is that when asked about proponents of the blue law, the legislator said that he'd heard from no "Sabbatarians" who wanted the law to stay in effect. It's just the term - Sabbatarian - which makes me chuckle.

Interestingly, the legislator also mentioned that there are many laws on the books in Virginia which, like the old blue law, are probably unconstitutional and so simply aren't enforced. Speaking to the VA Magistrate some 16 years ago, for example, I found out that cohabitation (an umarried man and woman living together) is, strictly speaking, illegal in Virginia, but that particular law hasn't been enforced since 1865. The legislator said that he'd love to see these sorts of old laws stricken from the books, but there's only so much time each year to enact the legislation to do so.

He even said he'd really like to see the tax laws repealed.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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