If you’re spending New Year’s Eve in one of the US nightlife capitals, such as Miami, New York or LA, you might be able to forget entirely that there’s a nation of teetotaling bible-thumpers out there waiting to harsh your buzz and call you a heathen. But land in the wrong state, and local “blue” laws preventing the sale or consumption of alcohol on a Sunday, which NYE is this year, could but a serious damper on your party plans. In the states of Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana there’s no alcohol sold for home consumption anywhere on a Sunday; while Minnesota, Oklahoma and Utah, allow only sales of low-alcohol beer. Several other states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas and South Carolina allow communities to make their own laws concerning booze and the sabbath and confuse everyone. As if that weren’t bad enough, in many places where alcohol is at least served on Sundays, bars are forced to kick patrons out by, yup, midnight. Bar and liquor store owners are complaining mightily, though, about the loss of business and in a few cases have successfully petitioned for an NYE exemption to the rules. How to cope if you planned to party in the States? Look up local laws here and then contact your legislators and tell them “Let the people drink!”

Elsewhere:
– “‘Blue law’ states face New Year’s Eve alcohol dilemma” (Houston Chronicle)
– “Sunday holidays loosen alcohol laws” (USA Today)