In great news for the inhabitants of Cook County, Illinois, the Forest Preserve Commissioners voted last week to change laws covering “misconduct” within the region. Now you can legally try your hand at fortune-telling, “acrobatic feats” and juggling there.

Splendidly, it is no longer “disorderly conduct” for confidence men to lounge around in a barn after the repeal of:

all persons who are known to be thieves, burglars, pickpockets, robbers or confidence men, either by their own confession or otherwise or by having been convicted of larceny, burglary, or other crimes against the laws of the State of Illinois, who are found lounging in or prowling or loitering around any house, barn, building or other structure within any forest preserve, and who are unable to give a reasonable excuse for being so found.

It was a fantastically vague law which applied to anybody “known to be” in one of the listed categories because of a confession, a conviction, “or otherwise.” It also didn’t offer a legal definition “lounging” or “fortune telling” but that makes no difference now because you can do both. Perhaps even at the same time.

“Fortune-tellers are now free to go in the forest preserve and do whatever it is they do,” he said.

Good stuff, and well done to Cook County, Illinois.