Don't Be a Priest, Nun, etc. This Halloween

 

There's a story at least 30 years old of a Florence professional man who entered a store (some say TG&Y at Seven-Points) wearing some kind of werewolf or similar mask. Instead of telling the gentleman it was against the law, the manager called police to have him arrested. It was embarrassing to say the least.

Mask-wearing may no longer be against the law in Alabama, but apparently posing as certain kinds of clergy is:

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 member of the clergy, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500.00 or confinement in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

We had never heard of this 1965 law, but it does remain on the books. We can thank AL.com for bringing this to light. So will local police be out in full force in the Shoals tomorrow night seeking out these sneaky miniscule impostors? It wouldn't surprise us.

Why don't we just stick a couple of pillows under a knitted vest and go as the Florence mayor? Pretty scary, huh?

*****