Laws have been around for centuries, but some laws are just plain weird. These laws would make a person wonder how anyone ever thought they were a good idea in the first place. However, these strange laws show us how some things were viewed, even if they are very weird. 

In New York, “umping off a building is punishable by death.” This law did not last very long, but until 1964, New York State once decided it was too disturbing for passersby to see someone jump off a building and came up with a genius consequence for trying it: death. Seniors from Blackman High School shared their thoughts on this. 

“The idea of having a law that punishes you for jumping off a bridge is kind of dumb, low-key, ” Senior Kayla Moody pointed out. 

“The chances of you dying when you jump off a building are high already. So, either way, at that point, you’re going to die,” expressed senior Andrea Alimpic. 

In Gainesville, Georgia, “you can’t eat fried chicken with a fork and knife.” I wonder why it would be a problem to not want to get your hands dirty and why this was even considered an issue. 

“I’m sure my attempt to look polite while wrestling with a drumstick will be… interesting,” joked junior Isabela Pessanha. 

In San Francisco, California, “you can’t walk down the street if you’re ugly.” The law is no longer enforced, of course, but back in the day, people who were deemed too ugly for the public eye were slapped with a $25 fine – over $400 in today’s currency. 

“Imagine walking and someone handing you a ticket. That’s so crazy and mad petty,” Soha Patel, a junior at Blackman High, said. 

Overall, these freakishly weird laws concern both the thought behind them and the people who were forced to abide by them .