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Alcohol Blue Laws (Laws Prohibiting Sunday Sales of Alcoholic Beverages)

A blue law is one restricting activities or sales of goods on Sunday, to accommodate the Christian sabbath. The first blue law in the American colonies was enacted in Virginia in 1617. It required church attendance and authorized the militia to force colonists to attend church services.

Other early blue laws prohibited work, travel, recreation, and activities such as cooking, shaving, cutting hair, wearing either lace or precious metals, sweeping, making beds, kissing, and engaging in sexual intercourse. The Puritans believed that a child was born on the same day of the week on which it was conceived. Therefore, the parents of children born on a Sunday were punished for violating the blue law nine months earlier.

Blue laws have operated to protect Christian business owners from competition on their sabbath. However, they don't protect from competition those (such as Jews and Muslims) whose sabbath is Saturday. Thus blue laws have established a double standard in favor of Christians.

Although blue laws requiring Sunday church attendance disappeared in the nineteenth century because they violated citizen' rights to religious freedoms, other blue laws have continued to exist into the modern era. In Texas, for example, blue laws prohibited selling house wares such as pots, pans, and washing machines on Sunday until 1985, and car dealerships in the state continue to operate under blue-law prohibitions. Many states still prohibit selling alcohol on Sunday, although it's now the second busiest shopping day of the week.

In 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Lord's Day Act of 1906 was an unconstitutional violation of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms It found that there was no legitimate secular basis for the legislation and its only purpose was, in effect, to establish a state religious-based requirement, and was therefore invalid.

Similarly, courts in New York and Connecticut have ruled that, because blue laws were created and propagated by religious groups for religious purposes, they are unconstitutional. Nevertheless, blue laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol on Sundays continue to exist and be enforced.

Religion, Morality, and Blue Laws

Sunday Alcohol Sales an Affront to Moral Values

The town of Henderson in Kentucky will vote on whether or not to permit restaurants to serve alcohol beverages with meals on Sundays.

Support for maintaining the colonial-era Blue Law prohibitions against the sale of alcohol on Sundays is largely based on the religious beliefs held by some Christians. A typical letter to the editor of the town's newspaper asserts that even discussing such an option is thrusting "an immoral sword" deep into Henderson.

The letter explains that "We believe the church plays a critical role in our nation, therefore we do not believe the historical documents of this country, our state, or our local government teach anywhere of a separation of church and state"

It continues that "We are opposed to Sunday alcohol sales because it is Biblical to do so; it is the fourth commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy."

Opposition to Sunday sales of alcoholic beverages is frequently, if not usually, based on religious beliefs.

Separate Personal Opinion from Biblical Teachings on Alcohol, Says Minister

Some communities are voting on whether or not to allow Sunday alcohol sales or on whether to overturn old laws prohibiting any sale of alcohol. In virtually all news reports, opposition to such change is organized by a local minister who contends that drinking is prohibited by the Bible or otherwise against the will of God.

The Rev. Dr. Bob LeFavi, the founding pastor at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Rincon, Georgia, expresses concern that people in such communities are only hearing from local religious leaders who oppose alcohol sales or alcohol sales on Sundays and are coming to the conclusion that such an issues is one of Christians against non-Christians.

Dr. LeFavi says that what he sees as vital to these debates "is a clear separation between Holy Scripture and personal opinion." The Bible makes it clear that Jesus drank wine (Matthew 15:11; Luke 7:33-35) and approved of its moderate consumption (Matthew 15:11). Rev. LeFavi says the Bible makes clear that alcohol beverage is neither good nor bad in itself.     

Sunday Alcohol Sales Bans: Blue Laws Indefensible

An editorial in South Carolina's Independent-Mail notes that much of the opposition to Sunday alcohol sales uses religion as its justification. However, it notes that "Nowhere in the Bible does it say, 'Thou shalt not drink alcohol on Sunday.'"

Effects of Alcohol Blue Laws

Blue Laws vs. Sunday Alcohol Beverage Sales: The Scientific Evidence

Based on current scientific research evidence, it appears that Sunday package alcohol sales do not increase alcohol-related traffic crashes or fatalities nor do they pose a heath hazard. To the contrary, Sunday sales may reduce heavy drinking on Saturdays, thereby providing a health benefit.

Impact or Effect of Legalizing Sunday Alcohol Sales in New Mexico

New Mexico lifted its ban (Sunday Blue Law) against packaged alcohol sales on July 1, 1995. Analyzing traffic crash data collected between January of 1990 and December of 2005 by the Division of Government Research in New Mexico, and adjusting for such factors as an increase in the state's speed limits in 1996, researchers found no increase in total alcohol-related accidents nor in alcohol-related fatal crashes on Sundays after the repeal of the ban on alcohol sales.

Blue Law Blues

Sunday liquor sales are prohibited in Gallup, NM. As a result, a chain store there has decided to halt sales of hairspray and mouthwash on Sundays because some customers dilute them with water to make drinks called "ocean water." Similarly, other stores now keep hairspray, mouthwash and vanilla extract behind the counter.

Washington State's Sunday Liquor Sales Experiment a Success

Abolishing Washington State's old "blue law" in a number of state-run and private stores increased state revenue without any increase in alcohol-related or other problems.

Alcohol Blue Laws Don't Save Lives

Abolition of the Blue Law in New Mexico that had prevented the sale of packaged alcoholic beverages on Sundays was followed by a drop in both alcohol-related traffic crashes on and in alcohol-related traffic fatalities on that day of the week.

Permitting the sale of alcohol on Sunday, the second busiest shopping day of the week, increases tax revenues, but doesn't increase either drunk driving or underage drinking.

Blue Law in Georgia

Blue Laws Unconstitutional

A Superior Court judge handed down a decision calling the city of Atlanta's and the state of Georgia's prohibitions against Sunday bar openings unconsititutional.

The ordinances prohibit alcohol sales on Sundays, but provide exceptions for many venues, including hotels, bowling alleys, sports arenas, auditoria, festivals, and any establishments that receive at least 50% of gross revenue from food.

However, the alcohol blue law continues to exist in Georgia.

Let the People Decide about Sunday Alcohol Sales (Blue Laws)

Georgia is one of only three states that still has a total prohibition on the retail sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays although it appears that a majority of Georgians want to abolish the colonial-era Blue Laws.

A poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that over two-thirds of respondents across the state favor ending the prohibition, a proportion that rises to 80% in metropolitan Atlanta.

Georgia Legislator Blasts Blue Laws

Puritan-era Blue laws prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays should be abolished says Georgia state Representative Roger Williams, chair of the House Regulated Industries Committee.

An analysis of the 12 states that have abolished the Sunday sales prohibition since 2002 "shows that the repeal has been a huge success both commercially and socially. It's been a boon to for customers, and there has been no negative social impact in states that have moved to Sunday sales" of alcoholic beverages, reports the legislator.

Blue Law in Connecticut

Alcohol Blue Laws in Connecticut

Connecticut is the only state in the northeast U.S. that has not yet abolished its Puritan-inspired Blue Law against the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays.

Legalize Sunday Alcoholic Beverage Sales

"Connecticut must legalize Sunday alcohol sales" asserts a newspaper editorial. It points out that in the 1600's, religiously inspired blue laws were passed to curb such behaviors as dice games, card playing and sexual intercourse on the Sabbath. Also prohibited was commerce, including buying alcohol beverages on that day.

While virtually all the other prohibitions were abolished decades ago, the law forbidding consumers from purchasing alcohol beverages has continued for 400 years. "All blue laws are inherently flawed , unconstitutional statutes, as they unjustly impose subjective religious standards onto the general population" observes the commentary.

The editorial concludes that "the Connecticut legislature needs to realize that the ban on Sunday alcohol sales is wholly unconstitutional, and that it has had a deleterious effect on personal liberty simultaneously costing the state millions of dollars in tax revenue. Accordingly, the state government should repeal this foolish law and finally grant the states' residents the freedom they deserve."

More Blue Laws

Monday Alcohol Sales Prohibited

Whenever Christmas falls on a Sunday, Massachusetts state law prohibits the sale of any alcohol beverages the next day. This prohibition remains in effect although the state's Colonial-era Blue Law ban on Sunday sales of alcohol was repealed in 2003.

Most residents assumed that the repeal of the Sunday sales prohibition also meant repeal of the quirky Monday prohibition. No so, says the state's Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Although the law is apparently completely illogical, it will be enforced.

Sunday Morning Alcohol Sales

A state senator in Michigan proposes lifting the state's prohibition against Sunday morning alcohol sales. Sen. Gilda Jacobs' bill would permit the sale of alcoholic beverages between 7 am and 12 pm on Sundays.

Sen. Jacobs observes that "it's OK to drink Saturday morning and go to the store but not OK on Sunday morning?