9,487
edits
Changes
no edit summary
(Ord. No. 77-1, § 3, 1-27-77; Ord. No. 91-17, §§ 2, 3, 5-15-91; Ord. No. 91-19, § 4, 7-26-91)
==Past laws==Several other laws restricting activity on Sunday that were instituted in the past have since been lifted. Sections 3565-67 of Florida statutes used to read::'''Section 3565. Following trade on Sunday.''' Whoever follows any pursuit, business or trade on Sunday, either by manual labor or with animal or mechanical power, except the same be work of necessity, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars; provided, however, that nothing contained in the laws of Florida shall be so construed as to prohibit the preparation or printing between the hours of midnight Saturday and six in the morning Sunday, of any newspaper intended to be circulated or sold on Sunday, or to prohibit the circulation and sale on Sunday of same, or to prohibit the circulation and sale on Sunday of any newspaper theretofore printed.:'''Section 3566. Selling Goods on Sunday.''' Whoever keeps open store or disposes of any wares, merchandise, goods or chattels on Sunday, or sells or barters the same, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars. In case of emergency or necessity, however, merchants, shopkeepers and others may dispose of the comforts and necessities of life to customers without keeping open doors.:'''Section 3567. Employing Servants.''' Whoever employs his apprentice or servants in labor or other business on Sunday, except it be in the ordinary household business of daily necessity, or other work of necessity or charity, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten dollars for every such offense.Shortly after taking his second term in office, [[Escambia County Sheriff]] [[James C. Van Pelt]] announced his intention to institute a strict enforcement of these Sabbath laws. "I am required under my oath of office to arrest any person, firm or corporation violating these laws, as well as other laws on the statute book. And this I propose to do if the law is violated."<ref>"Will Arrest Sunday Law Violators In Escambia Co." ''Pensacola Journal'', January 6, 1909.</ref> He added that he could arrest the conductors and motormen of the [[streetcar system]] if they operated the cars on Sunday, and let the matter go into courts for settlement. However, the Sunday after Sheriff Van Pelt's proclamation, most businesses remained open and the streetcars operated as normal, yet [[Justice of the Peace]] [[R. L. Nickelsen]] only granted three arrest warrants to deputies. All three men (John Nicholas, Chris Hootas and Victor Spassino) were Greek bootblacks. Others were found in their offices and ordered to appear before Justice Nickelsen. However, [[Escambia County Solicitor]] [[Scott M. Loftin]] said, "The evidence submitted to me was to the effect that certain business men were seen in their places of business on Sunday morning; one was reading a newspaper; another [[[Harry Kahn]]] was writing a letter, which he claimed was a private letter to a friend; another was looking over his mail, etc. I informed the justice of the peace that in my opinion the evidence was not sufficient to show that these parties were 'following a pursuit, business or trade,' or 'keeping open store,' within the meaning of those terms as used in our statutes."<ref>"No Warrants Issued For Arrest Of Business Men." ''Pensacola Journal'', January 12, 1909.</ref> ==References=={{gov-stubreflist}}