Back in the day, “blue laws” were supposed to keep Christian citizens from sinning with booze. A bunch of those laws are still on the books—and Mother Jones has rounded up some of the weirdest: In Oklahoma, for example, stores must sell liquor at room temperature. In my home state of Massachusetts, forget about happy hours. And don’t even get me started on Texas, where, as Adam Weinstein reports in our March/April issue, public intoxication arrests are on the rise. Inside bars.
To see our slideshow of America’s 12 weirdest drinking laws, go here. To read about Texas’ absurd—and racist—bar arrests, go here.