Are ‘manspreading’ arrests keeping strange laws alive in the US?

From time to time, we come across news reports about ancient laws which are still technically active in some countries, but are never acted upon.

For example, some of the weird laws in the UK include a ban on divorces, legislation requiring that all land should be left to the eldest son, and MPs being banned from wearing a suit of armour in Parliament.

In America, it is still technically illegal for a chicken to cross the road in Georgia, while in Texas it is illegal to sell your eyeballs.

Singing off-key is banned in North Carolina, and in Washington you can be fined or arrested for harassing Bigfoot, according to ancient laws.

Of course, the vast majority of these somewhat silly laws are unlikely to be enforced anytime soon.

However, recently two men were arrested in New York for what many would consider to be an equally bizarre crime.

The men from Brooklyn were collared by police for the crime of 'manspreading', which is using their legs to take up too much space on the carriage.

The arrest was unveiled after the Police Reform Organizing Project scoured court testimonies to produce a PDF that aimed to examine the NYPD’s attitudes to race and class.

This bizarre arrest was discovered after examining the documents. 

The New York Metropolitan Transport Authority prohibits taking up more than one seat if it happens to interfere with the functioning of the train or ‘comfort of other passengers’.

However, the sceptical judge issued an adjournment contemplating dismissal (ACD) for both men, stating: “12:11AM, I can’t believe there were many people on the subway."

The ACD means that the charges will be dropped if they avoid arrest for a determined period of time.