Plague Prohibition
Did you know that in Washington state it’s illegal to walk around in public if you are sick? More specifically, “Every person who shall wilfully expose himself to another, or any animal affected with any contagious or infectious disease, in any public place or thoroughfare, except upon his or its necessary removal in a manner not dangerous to the public health; and every person so affected who shall expose any other person thereto without his knowledge, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.”
If you noticed at the end, it specifies that exposing someone without prior knowledge of your disease is illegal. So does that mean if you give them fair warning ahead of time, you’re safe? I smell a loophole! Joking aside, this means you can’t go out even if you have the common cold for which there is no cure. It’s not as if you would want to leave your bed anyway, but still, it’s a little harsh.
Here’s a little dilemma with this law: What if you have to go to court a day that you’re sick? Now if that’s not “damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” then I don’t know what is. Seems to me you’re getting in trouble either way. The moral of the story: if you’re prone to illness, don’t move to Washington.
Related Stupid Laws:
Regarding the last comment about “damned if you do”… if you are for any reason unable to appear in court, your attorney must file a continuance and (someone correct me if I’m wrong) I believe the court must honor this petition given the circumstances. When I worked in a law office our clients or the other parties in the cases were filing for continuances left and right. Most cases take years simply due to school and work getting in the way