Blue Laws; or, it's Sunday and I need a beer

Photo by Don Nunn, from flickr

From the Washington Post, Mike DeBonis reports on the latest proposal to ease moralistic blue laws in the District.

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said today he is likely to recommend allowing Sunday sales for holders of Class A (liquor store) licenses as part of the city budget. The additional $710,000 in sales tax revenue that would be generated by dropping the restriction would go some way toward the $3.2 million Graham needs to find to kill MayorVincent C. Gray’s proposal to extend bar hours as late as 4 a.m.

There's some criticism of this proposal on the grounds that it won't raise as much money as the proponents claim it will. I think that's beside the point. Blue laws like those restricting alcohol sales on Sunday are part of an outdated moralism about drinking. The law should be repealed, not because it might net DC additional revenue, but because it's a bad law. States that restrict alcohol sales on Sunday are down to a handful: Indiana, Connecticut, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. It's high time DC joined the 44 states that allow people to buy a perfectly legal product whatever day of the week it might happen to be.

h/t: Greater Greater Washington