In which US state is it illegal to dress up as a nun or priest on Halloween?

According to Section 13A-14-4 of the Alabama Code, dressing up as a priest, nun or other clergy member is a misdemeanor.

"Whoever, being in a public place, fraudulently pretends by garb or outward array to be a minister of any religion, or nun, priest, rabbi, or other members of the clergy, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or confinement in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment."

The law was passed by the Alabama Legislature in 1965.

It's not clear if anyone in Alabama has ever been prosecuted for violating the law or why it was adopted in the first place, so there's no need to fear if you plan to wear a nun costume as you go trick or treating tonight.

More Info: www.al.com

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12 Comments

Stephen W. Gerrard

LOL! The first thing I did was look for Oklahoma! When we were young (and residents of Tulsa), I dressed up as Father Guido Sarducci (probably only old Americans like me will know who this was. 😃) and my wife was a pregnant nun. Sacrilegious perhaps, but funny at the time.

Lawanta

Stephen W. Gerrard, from SNL, right?! 🤣

Patrick T

I remember as a kid in the Catholic School, (not in Alabama) if a kid dressed up as a nun or a priest for Halloween, the nuns loved it.

Robert Oldenburg

I figured it wasn’t California. San Francisco area had a guy dressed up as a nun that ran for elected office and tried to get on the ballot as nun of the above. The response was to try to legislate that the candidate had to use their actual name. While I think the nun of the above was hilarious I would agree with that proposed law.

fdeisner

Stephen W. Gerrard, Don Novello play the character Father Guido Sarducci on SNL. He also put a cheesecake recipe out under his character's name. Look up Father Guido Sarducci cheesecake as it is really good. It is a combination of both Italian and New York cheesecakes and is really yummy.