Folks Reveal 30 Seemingly Illegal Things That Are Actually Not Criminal At All, As Shared Online
In a civilized world, everyone will mostly agree that we need rules and laws to government every aspect of our lives because pure chaos is fun for a little bit, but then you understand that having people constantly taking your stuff or knocking over your mailbox without any repercussions becomes at the very least a tad bit annoying.
But these same rules and laws also cause confusion, whether because of loopholes, assumptions or the like and people end up thinking something is illegal, but in reality you won’t be arrested or charged for it.
The folks of Reddit have been sharing situations that most kinda assumed are illegal, or at the very least wrong and believed that they would be somehow reprimanded, but it was not the case.
Scroll down to check out what the internet has taught you today with regards to laws and regulations, and while you’re at it, vote, comment, and share with us some laws that most people don’t know are not really laws but figments of our assumption in the comment section below!
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CilliamBlinton said:
Discussing wages with your fellow employees.
breaker-of-shovels replied:
Not only is it legal, your right to do so is protected by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. It’s actually illegal to tell your employees not to talk about wages with each other.
Employers asking for vaccination status. Or asking anyone their vaccination status. All perfectly legal. People say.. but it's a HIPAA violation. No it is not. Your employer must treat it as confidential, they can't share it with anyone else without your permission. But it's perfectly legal to ask or even require that you show proof.
I think that most people don't realize that the only entities bound by HIPAA are health care providers and insurance companies. If I tell someone you have strep throat, I didn't violate any law, I just overshared. If I ask if you have an STI, I didn't violate any law, I am just way too nosy.
FriedBack said:
Cops lying to you. (U.S.) They dont have to tell you theyre a cop. They can say literally anything to extract information.
uwu_SenpaiSatan replied:
Even in interrogations.
FriedBack replied:
Especially in those. Anything to get you to incriminate yourself. Always request a lawyer and don't say anything else.
Yes don't say a word and don't fall for " if you talk to us we'll help you". Always get a lawyer even if you did nothing wrong. My little brother learned this the hard way. Cops only want the charges and the arrest they don't care about anything else. They do not care if your innocent or a scape goat or young and dumb. They will put words in your mouth and violate your rights if they can get away w it. I watched a cop lie through his teeth while violating numerous constitutional rights and the only thing that saved the person he arrested was the video and recording in his car.
Refusing service, as long as it is not based on a protected class and isn't an essential service. If you walk into my store with no intention to buy (or buy in the future,) I can ask you to leave and if you refuse, I can have you trespassed. I can kick you out for smelling bad, being rude, treating the staff disrespectfully, and for talking too loudly or with vulgar language. If you pay with a large bill or buy an expensive item with change, I can tell you to leave and come back with appropriate payment. Of course many of these things are bad business practices and your Google/Yelp reviews will reflect that, but they are generally legal (at least in the US.) This is especially true in bars, where protecting the alcohol service license is of upmost importance- anything that jeopardizes my liquor license is something you'll get 86'd for, and the law is generally on my side (on the civil court side of things there are more gray areas.)
wootpro said:
Counting cards at a casino black jack table.
BuffyStark replied:
It's just a strategy, nothing illegal about that. If Casinos catch you, they can bar you from coming back, but you cannot be arrested.
i don't even get how they are allowed to bar you because of counting "Hey, you're playing this game intelligently instead of just throwing your money at us! That's rude! Don't come back!"
Solisia said:
In Sweden (and maybe elsewhere?) it is not illegal to try or succeed to escape from prison
UnoriginalUse replied:
In many European countries the law takes into account if you are acting as any reasonable person would in that situation. IIRC, the desire to escape is seen as reasonable.
cKerensky replied:
The caveat being that you can't cause harm. IE, committing a crime to escape.
...and by 'not illegal' they mean that no additional prison time will be added to your current sentence. The desire to be free is seen as an inalienable right for which you cannot be punished. You do have to go back to prison for the original offence, should you be captured,but no extra time will be added simply for escaping.
Mackem101 said:
In the UK, trespass.
Most people believe it's a criminal offence, but that's only in certain circumstances (railways, MOD sites etc).
the_midget123 replied:
You can trespass until challenge. This law was put in place to stop hikers straying into someone land and getting arrested.
So in the UK you can trespass but as soon as your asked to leave and refuse then you can be arrested.
Scotland has different laws than rest of the uk - we have the freedom to roam, which means as long as it isn't in someone's back garden or business/school/sports premises then you can go wherever you like, including camping wherever you please. Not everyone thinks a person in your space means you need to be violent about it - you definitely wouldn't be shot at which is a bit if an overreaction
In canada, women can be shirtless wherever men can. Though women still get arrested for this.
nickdude96 said:
Piracy if you download, in most countries. It's illegal to distribute pirated material but not to download it, mostly because the laws are a decade or two behind. Here in Canada, for instance, a copyright owner can send a warning notification to the internet provider and they're legally obligated to pass it on, but they have no obligation to punish you for it. I don't think any major providers here ban people, it doesn't affect them and you're still paying them.
Hyena-Heretic replied:
I’m in Canada and have gotten a few notices in the mail due to pirating movies. I can’t remember the exact wording but they say something along the lines of “you have to pay x thousands of dollars to this company”. There’s no legal obligation to pay but some people have ended up paying before.
kirklennon replied:
> There’s no legal obligation to pay but some people have ended up paying before.
The copyright holder *can* sue you to make you pay, but they *never* do this in Canada because there’s a rather modest lifetime total you can sue for in Canada that’s per work, so if you get your full money from one person, you can’t threaten to sue anybody else for pirating the same thing, ever. Instead the business model is just to send out thousands of demands and hope people settle.
A lot of people think it’s illegal for an employer to fire someone over their opinions because “they were exercising their right of free speech.”
Many people are confused about this. The US constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech". It DOESN'T say that social media platforms can't ban you for spouting racist $hit or spreading stupid, dangerous disinformation.
leapdayjose said:
Giving cops the middle finger. It's protected under freedom of speech.
Doesn't mean it's smart to do and they won't find some reason to make your day hell. But it's legal lol.
you_lost-the_game replied:
Does not apply in Germany. Insults are illegal here and are not protected by free speech. Not exclusive to cops, insults in general are illegal
"Explicitly Exposing One's Own Middle Hand Finger To Law Enforcement" - that's a lot of words for flipping the bird to the cops.
In my state, turning left on a red light when you’re on a one-way and turning onto another one-way. Nobody knows, nobody goes, and it drives me bonkers.
Here, Norway, it's illegal to drive against red lights no matter what. But left turns have often got a separate light which can be green even if the main direction is red.
Same in the UK. The only time you can turn on red is when you have already entered a junction and you have to wait for the traffic to clear before you can leave, but you can still only enter the junction when the light is not on red (really only on green). Any other time, there will be a separate light (usually an arrow) indicating that you may turn when the other lanes are at red.
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This is one of my favorite DMV trivia bits. Most people know you can make a right on red in most instances, but there are so few places where you even have the opportunity to make a left from a one-way street onto another one-way street..
Legal in Ontario (Canada). But I think that's the only province. Turning left from a 1'way street to a 1-way street). In Quebec, it's legal in very few places to even turn RIGHT on a red light; whether you stop first or not.
In British Columbia, Canada it is also legal to turn left onto a one way street when stopped at a red light.. AFTER coming to full stop and ensuring it is safe to do so. You still don't see it often, so people are often shocked when I do it.
Just because it's legal, doesn't mean you HAVE to, and it's still a potentially dangerous manoeuvre so ...
People that drive on the left side of the road aren't going to get this one.
we do get it. We usually have yield/green arrows letting us run left turn if it's not risky.
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I worked downtown in a city with a grid of one-way streets — and signs specifically forbidding turning left on a red light. It drove me nuts.
In the US: driving barefoot. Absolutely zero states have a law against this.
The rumor probably started because many states have a law saying you must be wearing unobstructing footwear that won’t get in the way of petal operation. So no driving in ski boots.
Child marriage is still legal in a surprising number of US states.
Wow. Correcting that is not something you get around to eventually. It should be the first thing on the agenda.
A lot of people think becoming a citizen of another country deprives you of the citizenship of your home country, particularly if you're a US citizen. All country's laws are different, but most modern democracies don't care if you acquire another citizenship. Notable exceptions include Japan and The Netherlands. I'm a British and US citizen, neither country minds.
i think the US does mind, they just don't do anything about it. The citizenship oath, unless they changed it since i took it, has a bit about renouncing any other allegiances. Assholish, imo.
LukeIAmYourPikachu said:
UK - Giving alcohol to someone under age 18. In a private residence anyone aged 5 or over can drink alcohol
Frogmarsh replied:
Where I live, in Wisconsin, USA, you can serve your children alcohol (I think at any age), at home, at bars, until they turn 18, at which point they have to wait until they’re 21 before you can buy them a drink again.
i know it doesn't work this way for everyone, but my family never mystified or tabooed alcohol. we were given sips of wine or beer as kids, found it nasty, didn't have any interest in it again until much later. even then, it wasn't a big deal. never got wasted
Tax avoidance. Perfectly legal. Tax evasion is a completely different story.
Writer's Note: According to the IRS, tax avoidance is an action that's taken to lessen a person's or company's tax liability, this way maximizing their after-tax income, whereas tax evasion is failing to pay or deliberately underpaying on one's taxes.
In the US, owning machine guns.
It's expensive and there's a lot of dealing with the ATF, but you can own all sorts of wild weapons legally.
But why should someone in a civilized country need to own a machine gun? A MACHINE GUN!!
Recording someone on your phone in public. Ask a Karen they will tell ya
Learned a few days ago that only two us states place any legal restrictions on flamethrowers as they technically count as tools and not weapons
Catfishing someone online. Even for nsfw content (so long as they’re above the legal age to do so). It’s legal until you actually use this facade to benefit financially. Then it’s deemed fraud.
The catfish TV show is proof of this, nobody ever gets legal repercussions. Just outed on TV and they part ways
Jaywalking confuses a lot of people. Here in Georgia it is a very specific definition: crossing a street between two intersections that both have traffic signals. Otherwise you can cross wherever you like; you just have to yield to traffic.
The word "Jay" was a derogatory word for less than smart people. It's like calling someone a hick today. When cars were just starting to come on to city streets there were lots of collisions between cars and pedestrians because back then the streets were for everyone. The auto industry made a campaign to basically shame people into giving the automobile sole domain of the street by calling anyone who walked across the street a dumb redneck who didn't know any better.
Not giving two weeks notice when leaving a job
In Europe it can be longer, it depends on how long you work there and what kind of contract.
Absinthe
To be fair, it was illegal for a long time. In Switzerland from 1910-1999, after a winegrower murdered his family in 1905. He was a violent alcoholic and had consumed absinth besides a large quantity of other alcohols, but people solely blamed the absinth. Today, the thujone, which in excess acts like a neurotoxin, is regulated. But, even back then, there was never any evidence that the concentrations were high enough to cause bad effects. More likely, the problem was the excessive alcohol consumption and the bad quality of moonshine itself. In the US absinth only became legal again in 2007, in France in 2011. The Val-de-Travers, a valley between Switzerland and France, where absinth originated, still boasts an uninterrupted clandestine distilling tradition, despite many police raids. I may know of a bottle or two from the illegal days, we got from this region. And if you like the taste of anise and fennel I recommend you try absinth, it’s delicious.
Met a woman once who believed if you were related to the other people in the car it didn't count as carpooling for the carpool lane and was illegal. It is not, in fact, illegal.
Not having a picture ID. I have met a shocking number of people who think it’s illegal to leave one’s home without an ID. It’s bizarre but I assure you A LOT of people believe it.
Trading and using used Windows even OEM I think, maybe other software too. It is against terms and conditions but afaik not illegal in EU. These are not pirated copies.
in the US, illegal... MS can sue to recover losses... or any software company... This is a favorite revenge tool used by mistreated employees after they leave or are unfairly fired... only they know about the bootleg copy of Autocad, Photoshop, or some other expensive software used without paying when it is hidden in the 3rd floor storeroom turned into a secret design center... The offended company can get a search warrant to prove the illegal use, demand the copy be deleted, and then put a surcharge on a legit copy. They can sue for damages if multiple copies are in use. Perfect revenge if you are a mistreated unfairly terminated employee, go for it... just be discrete so the unethical jerks don't retaliate...
True, but everyone knew that going into this unless they were extremely stupid or self centered. The comments that all start with “AGAIN,” and go into a boring explanation about location all sound so dumb and ignorant. We all know this article was pulled from Reddit and we all know Reddit’s main demographic. Complaining won’t change it.
Load More Replies... I'm in the UK and I'm never quite sure if having a fire in your garden (as in a bonfire) is legal or not.
I know you can't use them to burn household waste as that can result in harmful fumes
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It is LEGAL to pick Bluebonnets (the state flower) in the state of Texas. They bloom around April every year . . . BUT . . . it is NOT LEGAL to go onto private property to do this nor onto city/county/state property where they have been planted and cared for as decoration. Along a public road, lane or highway where they are growing wild, you can pick them -- be careful while stopping and parking of the traffic.
Gas prices in america just reached a historic high.....dont forget who was sitting in tje whote house when this happened.
Do you ever get tired of the taste of boot?
Load More Replies... True, but everyone knew that going into this unless they were extremely stupid or self centered. The comments that all start with “AGAIN,” and go into a boring explanation about location all sound so dumb and ignorant. We all know this article was pulled from Reddit and we all know Reddit’s main demographic. Complaining won’t change it.
Load More Replies... I'm in the UK and I'm never quite sure if having a fire in your garden (as in a bonfire) is legal or not.
I know you can't use them to burn household waste as that can result in harmful fumes
Load More Replies... It is LEGAL to pick Bluebonnets (the state flower) in the state of Texas. They bloom around April every year . . . BUT . . . it is NOT LEGAL to go onto private property to do this nor onto city/county/state property where they have been planted and cared for as decoration. Along a public road, lane or highway where they are growing wild, you can pick them -- be careful while stopping and parking of the traffic.
Gas prices in america just reached a historic high.....dont forget who was sitting in tje whote house when this happened.
Do you ever get tired of the taste of boot?
Load More Replies...