Last Updated on February 12, 2022
In his film, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore berates Congress for not bothering to read the Patriot Act before they signed it into law. Though I haven’t seen his film, I’m sure he implies that this oversight is specifically George W. Bush‘s fault…since most all of the other evils of the world seem to be.
In any case, his accusation does bring up the obvious question: Can a law really be passed without being read?
The answer: apparently! A new law takes effect today, July 1st, and appears to fall into this bizarre category.
The short version story is this: Over the years, Virginia lawmakers had added a bunch of exceptions to their Blue Laws, which prevented certain businesses from opening on Sunday. During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers set out to clear up all of the confusion. They ended up creating a situation in which employees across the state now have the chance to take Sunday (or any other day they consider the Sabbath) off as a “day of rest” no matter what employers have to say about it.
What’s more, if an employer refuses to give them the day off, said employer could be fined up to $500, and employees forced to work on their “day of rest” could be owed triple-time pay.
The actual mistake, which deleted many of the businesses listed as exemptions to provisions of the “Day of Rest” law and Blue Laws in general, wasn’t caught as the bill sailed through the Senate, the House, and the office of Governor Mark Warner (who, interestingly enough, happens to be a Democrat).
I suspect this law won’t be enforced because of the mistake. But it is interesting that not one of the hundreds of people who came into contact with the bill — if they bothered to read it at all — noted the error.
