I think they're using an alternate definition of "suffer". > 4 : to allow especially by reason of indifference >> the eagle suffers little birds to sing > —

I think they're using an alternate definition of "suffer". > 4 : to allow especially by reason of indifference >> the eagle suffers little birds to sing > — William Shakespeare https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffer https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffer So "is suffered" would actually just be a synonym for "is permitted" in this case. So essentially "is suffered" could be removed with no change in meaning, since "is permitted" is already in the law. As for why lawmakers decided to insert what appears to be a useless and confusing synonym, I'm not sure.