There are a lot of crazy people and a lot of crazy laws in the United States of America. I am sure that Texas is home to many of each.

Texas knows the value of a penny. It has even made it a felony to steal one. As reported in www.star-telegram.com.

In one of the more memorable examples of the Texas Legislature's penny-foolish, pound-foolish lawmaking, it passed a law last session making the theft of a penny coin a state jail felony.

In other words, if you get caught stealing a penny, the state will spend $31 a day for two years to lock you up.

This moment of brilliance was part of a copper theft law passed in the final days of the 2011 Legislature. It was debated, analyzed and argued for months, but nobody noticed it included pennies.

The history of the Texas Legislature is filled with bold moments in lawmaking. There was the ban on possessing more than six personal vibrators. (That's worth up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.)

To gauge the Legislature's level of consciousness, a Waco representative filed a prank resolution in 1971 honoring Albert de Salvo for "population control."

The House passed it unanimously.

Then the lawmaker withdrew the resolution and explained that de Salvo was the 1960s "Boston Strangler."

The Texas law deals with copper as part of a scrap metal theft and the law has no minimum value for amount of the metal stolen. So, for example, stealing a six-pack of aluminum beer cans is also a felony. (But not longnecks.)

Does this bill make sense (pun intended to you)?