1/31/2009:
Did you know that, at one time in the past anyway, if you left a string of bad checks across the state, then high-tailed it into Minnesota, you couldn't be extradited for your offense?
Well, not too many people did, luckily enough. The problem was an inaccurately worded law that dates back to 1877, when the territorial legislature adopted the code.
The language of the law referred to a previous section, but an inserted paragraph changed the meaning of the law, and so dropping bad checks, or "false tokens," as it was originally worded, became a misdemeanor instead of a felony.
On this date in 1951, a mere 73 years later, it was reported that the Senate Judiciary Committee finally approved a bill to correct the error.
By Sarah Walker
Sources:
Devils Lake World, Wednesday, January 31, 1951