Tony Kurdzuk | The Star-Ledger

N.J.'s 10 most bizarre pieces of legislation in 2014

New Jersey's senators and assembly members introduce thousands of bills every year. A tiny fraction become law. Many of the proposals are narrowly tailored and uninteresting to those not immediately affected by them. But if you sift through the piles of bills, you'll find some that are strange, funny and flat out bizarre.

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About the list

New Jersey's senators and assembly members introduce thousands of bills every year. A tiny fraction become law. Many of the proposals are narrowly tailored and uninteresting to those not immediately affected by them. But if you sift through the piles of bills, you'll find some that are strange, funny and flat out bizarre. Here's the 10 oddest pieces of legislation that were introduced in 2014 as determined by NJ Advance Media.

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Matt Friedman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

10. Don't pierce your pooch

After Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-Hudson) saw a dog with a Mets logo tattooed on its skin, he decided to speak up for those who can only bark and meow. Garcia introduced a bill (A3588) that would clarify that needlessly piercing or tattooing an animal "for the entertainment and amusement of an unscrupulous pet owner" would be an animal cruelty offense. The bill has passed the Assembly and awaits action in the state Senate. And it's already illegal across the Hudson. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law banning the practice earlier this month.

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9. Beer and skee ball?

In this case, it's not the legislation (S2514) itself that's odd. It's the half-century old law it's seeking to repeal. In the 1950s, the state banned having "amusement games" -- things like skee ball and whack-a-mole that give out tickets to be redeemed for prizes -- in a place where alcohol is served. No one's quite sure why the state did this, but some guess it had something to do with alcohol near kids. The problem is that this directly conflicts with Dave & Buster's business model, which is essentially to be a Chuck E. Cheese for grownups. Dave & Buster's wants to open up in New Jersey, and has hired lawyers and lobbyists to push for the bill, which was approved by the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee earlier this month.

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8. Rights for headlights

Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-Ocean) — who often introduces bills based on news stories -- is responsible for this bright idea. After hearing about a Missouri driver who was pulled over for flashing his headlights to warn of a speed trap and fined $1,000, Dancer introduced a bill in April (A2922) to clarify that it is "permissible for the operator of a motor vehicle to flash his or her headlights in the direction of oncoming traffic to warn the operator of another motor vehicle of a traffic accident, a road hazard, or the presence of law enforcement officers enforcing the speed limit."

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7. 5 N.J. State Songs

New Jersey has a lot of designated state things, like a bird (eastern goldfinch), a fruit (the northern high bush blueberry), an insect (honey bee), a fish (brook trout) and even a shell (knobbed whelk). But we have no state song, despite more than 50 years of lobbying by Red Mascara for his tune "I'm from New Jersey." Three lawmakers from different parts of the state &mdah; state Sens. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) — came together in September and sought to fix that once and for all with a bill that designate Mascara's work the state song (S2438), along with other tunes for a state anthem, a state ballad, a state popular song and a state children's song. The bill passed the state Senate this month, and awaits action in the Assembly.

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6. Volunteer jurors

After getting the idea from a constituent, Assemblyman Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) introduced a bill (A2949) that would create a new pool of potential jurors from volunteers for judges to choose from if they wish, which could include the unemployed or retired. Lawyers panned the idea, saying the self-selecting jury pool would probably be unconstitutional, and undermine the entire idea of a "jury of one's peers."

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5. The Sea of Japan or the East Sea?

A group of Bergen County lawmakers drew the ire of the Japanese government when they proposed a bill (A2478) that would require the state and all its political subdivisions, "to the extent practicable," to refer to the body of water between Korea and Japan as the East Sea. Japan has a long, sad history of colonialism in Korea, and the name of the sea is a point of contention among Japan, South Korea and North Korea. But for Bergen County lawmakers who represent a large and growing Korean-American population, the bill was a no-brainer — at least until the Japanese government weighed in publicly, with its cabinet secretary calling the legislation "extremely regrettable."

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4. Wait, bestiality isn't illegal in New Jersey?

Apparently not. According to the sponsor of a bill to ban it, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerset), New Jersey is one of 14 states that doesn't explicitly ban sexual relations between humans and animals. People started to notice that when animal cruelty charges were dropped against a Moorestown police officer who allegedly molested cows (he was, however, convicted of molesting children). The bill (A3012), which was suggested by a legislative intern, passed the Assembly in June, but has not yet moved in the state Senate. Nobody in the Assembly voted against the ban, by the way.

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Times of Trenton file photo

3. Let your ram run free

This is the only bill on the list to actually be signed by Gov. Chris Chrisite. The measure (S1909) removed about two dozen statutes from the books which had been "superseded or invalidated, or which are anachronistic in nature — i.e. belonging to an earlier time and irrelevant in the current legal, political, and social climate." Some of the laws repealed had to do with permitting stallions, bulls and rams to run at large. One banned the delay or detainment of homing pigeons.

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2. Rape by fraud

If this bill (A3908) sponsored by Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) becomes law, it would be considered rape to commit "an act of sexual penetration to which a person has given consent because the actor has misrepresented the purpose of the act or has represented he is someone he is not." The legislation — written in response to a Florence woman who was lied to and duped out of money by her con-artist boyfriend — made international headlines and drew widespread criticism for being too broad, even if well-intended.

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Michael Mancuso/The Times of Trenton

1. The bill to end most bills

Tired of seeing bills like the nine you just read about, Assemblyman Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) introduced his own bill (A3752) that would limit state senators to being the top prime sponsor of just 25 bills or resolutions per two-year session, and keep Assembly members to just 15 bills. At the end of the term, every bill would have to include an estimate by the Office of Legislative Services of how much it cost to draft it, process it and consider it. However, every bill would be guaranteed a committee hearing — which is much farther than the vast majority of bills get today.

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Honorable mention: More space for pregnant pigs

Animal rights activist say it doesn’t even happy in New Jersey, but state Sen. Raymond Lesniak’s (D-Union) proposed ban on closely restricting the movement of pregnant pigs got a huge amount of attention. The bill was pushed for by the Humane Society as part of its effort to get many states to ban keeping pregnant pigs in gestational crates so tight that they can’t turn around. But while New Jersey has no hog industry to speak of, it’s a huge industry in Iowa – which just happens to have the first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest. It’s no secret that Christie is mulling a run for president, and it was no surprise that he vetoed the bill, just like he vetoed a similar measure in 2013.