‘Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance’ author shares weird-but-true laws from around the globe

Laws, much like warning labels, usually exist because someone, somewhere, tried to do something inadvisable. Lawmakers are also tasked with thinking up the weird things people might try to do; which is probably how the board of commissioners in Skamania County, Wash., ended up composing Ordinance No. 69-01, making it a felony to shoot and kill a sasquatch.

Author and attorney Kevin Underhill is fascinated by such laws, and in his new book The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance: And Other Real Laws that Human Beings Have Actually Dreamed Up, Enacted and Sometimes Even Enforced, he has compiled more than 200 examples of some truly peculiar laws going back more than 4,000 years. He discusses some of his findings, and how he came to write this book, with ABA Journal podcast editor Lee Rawles.

Related article:

BoingBoing: “The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance and Other Real Laws”

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In This Podcast:

Lee Rawles
Kevin Underhill is a litigation partner with Shook, Hardy & Bacon in San Francisco. Professionally, he specializes in appeals, motion practice, and a wide variety of incredibly interesting legal issues. Less professionally, he is the author of the legal humor blog Lowering the Bar. He can be found on Twitter @loweringthebar.