Recently in Legislative Oddities Category

After announcing his candidacy only a few days earlier, Republican Mark Schimel has pulled out of the race against his estranged wife, Democrat Michelle Schimel. The couple separated last year after 32 years of marriage, NBC New York reports. They had two children together.

Michelle is serving her third term in the New York State Assembly. Mark was competing for her spot.

So why did the Republican candidate suddenly decide to exit the race for the State Assembly seat?

A Florida lawmaker's far-flung idea to repeal an anti dwarf-tossing law has itself been tossed, thanks to heightened awareness from little people across America.

As this blog explained last fall, Florida State Rep. Ritch Workman proposed a bill to repeal the state's ban on dwarf-tossing, in effect since 1989.

The repeal would have (ostensibly) created jobs for little people who were (supposedly) willing to be picked up and thrown through the air -- or through a door, or a glass window, or down a well -- with adequate protection, of course.

Many little people, and non-little people, were up in arms.

Couples divorce for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes they just fall out of love. Sometimes they cheat on each other. And on rare occasions, a wife will divorce her husband because he made her dress up as a Klingon.

That's exactly what happened to a couple in England, The New York Times reports. The wife in question also accused her ex-husband of forcing her to speak to him in Klingon, too.

Unlike in America, English divorce law is fault-based, so couples must cite mundane reasons like these in order to get divorced. But some English judges don't like it.

A legal dogfight could soon be hatching in Florida, where state lawmakers repealed a decades-old ban on dyeing animals. But don't expect a deluge of brightly dyed chicks this Easter.

Florida's governor must still approve the repeal of the state's 45-year-old ban on dyeing animals, which would then be lifted July 1, UPI reports. So Florida's chirping chickadee population can still expect a dye-free Easter this weekend.

Come next Easter, however, animal-rights activists fear Florida could see a boom in brightly dyed chicks, along with other animal breeds. But don't expect activists to roll over and "dye" so easily.

Give Mayor Doug Ellison enough rope, and he'll hang himself -- as part of a historic re-enactment for tourists visiting the town of Medora, N.D.

That was Ellison's plan, anyway, until townsfolk started talking. Now the mayor is backing down from his "hang me from the gallows" idea, which he hoped would be a compelling tie-in to his small town's Wild West history.

"I thought it would just be entertaining like a Western movie," Ellison, 49, told the Associated Press. But opponents thought he'd lost his head.

California secession is on the mind of Jeff Stone, a Republican who sits on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Have you ever heard of "South California"?

Maybe you will!

Stone wants to create a 51st state, "South California," which will include 13 counties in Southern California. Los Angeles County is noticeably absent from the list of counties Stone wants to include, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Should we license clowns? Linda Beaudoin, a former clown, is petitioning to create some new clown laws in Canada to battle child abuse.

Beaudoin has long been campaigning for laws on licensing clowns, and she has been documenting the arrest of clowns, mall Santas, and other hired child entertainers on her website.

Beaudoin has especially been paying close attention to the case of an Ontario clown Randy Miller who pled guilty to possession of child pornography. He had 60,000 illicit images of children on his computer, reports AOL News.

They look like pot brownies and they act like pot brownies, but they're completely legal and they apparently taste better.

Wondering what I'm talking about?

Lazy Cakes, the world's first relaxation brownies.

And two Massachusetts mayors want to take the melatonin-laced treats off the market.

Bummed about having to pay taxes? You're not alone. Romanian witches are threatening to cast a spells with dog feces on the Romanian government over new labor laws that would force them to pay taxes on their income. Witches, in addition to, fortune tellers, models, valets and astrologers are vowing to hex the government for its taxing ways.

 In addition to being reclassified as those practicing in a professional trade, under a new classification, they would have to declare their income and pay taxes on it.

The laws are designed to fight tax evasion, according to the Romanian government. The law will force Romanian witches and other related professionals to register their professions and pay 16% in taxes, as do other self-employed Romanians.

Owners of pets in Massachusetts got the news they wanted when Gov. Deval Patrick signed a piece of legislation that allows for pet trust law in the state.

The bill not only allows owners to take care of their pets in pet wills, but the bill would help the state out in terms of spending. "Having trust mechanisms is just one more tool to try and keep pets in homes and out of shelters," Kara Holmquist, director of advocacy for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told the Boston Herald. That means that there are less abandoned pets in state facilities that need state funding.