Michigan House Votes To Void Old Crimes Like Accepting Duels, Cursing

LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Outdated crimes such as accepting a duel and cursing in front of women or children would no longer be on Michigan's books under bills advancing in the Legislature.

The House on Wednesday began voting to repeal 75 laws that legislators say no longer serve a purpose or have been made redundant by newer statutes.

"I think people ask, why bother taking them off the books?" said Rep. Chris Afendoulis of Rockford. "A law that is not enforced is not worth having."

Afendoulis said some of these laws are unconstitutional.

"Each day, citizens around our great state are violating laws that they're not even aware of," he said.

The archaic and apparently unenforced laws include prohibitions against ads related to sexually transmitted diseases and accepting a challenge to a duel.

The seven-bill package would delete laws prohibiting the national anthem from being played in public "without embellishments or other melodies," and dancing to the national anthem. It would also lift bans against stealing vegetables from someone's garden. Michigan would still have broader penalties for trespassing and larceny.

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