Wizard Amendment

March 1995: During the discussion of a bill in the New Mexico state senate, Sen. Duncan Scott (R) proposed the following amendment:

When a psychologist or psychiatrist testifies during a defendant's competency hearing, the psychologist or psychiatrist shall wear a cone-shaped hat that is not less than 2 feet tall. The surface of the hat shall be imprinted with stars and lightning bolts.

Additionally, a psychologist or psychiatrist shall be required to don a white beard that is not less than 18 inches in length, and shall punctuate crucial elements of his testimony by stabbing the air with a wand. Whenever a psychologist or psychiatrist provides expert testimony regarding the defendant's competency, the bailiff shall contemporaneously dim the courtroom lights and administer two strikes to a Chinese gong.

It passed in the Senate, but didn't make it through the House.

The Marion Star - Dec 28, 1995

Who We Are
Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 27, 2017
Category: Law | Politics | 1990s

Comments

I would vote for this.

Posted by BMN on 08/27/17 at 09:22 AM

Almost sounds like one of those bills introduced just to see if his colleagues were paying attention...

Posted by Brian on 08/28/17 at 12:50 AM

Sounds like Mr. Scott had an unfavorable run-in with a psychologist or psychiatrist at some point.

Posted by GFinKS on 08/28/17 at 07:58 AM

Sounds like he's a member of Xenu's favourite pyramid scheme, to me.

Posted by Richard Bos on 09/03/17 at 09:37 AM

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.