John Raines John Raines John Raines (May 6, 1840, Geneva, Ontario County, New York – December 16, 1909, Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He authored the 1896 Raines Law, which prohibited liquor sales on Sundays, except in hotels, which had the unintended consequence of fostering prostitution. He was born on May 6, 1840 in Geneva, Ontario County, New York, the son of Rev. John Raines (1818–1877) and Mary (Remington) Raines (1815–1889). He was educated at Canandaigua Academy and Albany Law School, from where he graduated in 1861. Admitted to the bar upon graduation,
Scaffold Law (New York) Scaffold Law was enacted by the New York State Legislature in 1885. The law was enacted at a time in the nation's history when the federal government had not yet enacted widespread worker protection such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or workers compensation programs. In 1995, the state of Illinois repeals their absolute liability standard law for gravity related injuries, leaving New York as the last and only state with such a statute. There was a lobbying effort in 2013 on behalf of contractors and minority and women owned business enterprises to replace the absolute liability standard with