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American Morning
Interview with Andy Powell, Jeff Koon
Aired June 24, 2002 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You've heard it before, there ought to be a law, right?
Well, did you know that in Delaware, it's illegal to sell perfume as a drink? In Nevada, forgetting to close a gate is against the law? Andy Powell and Jeff Koon, they know about that. They have spent years -- and they don't have that many between the two of themselves -- but they have spent years compiling America's dumbest laws to showcase on their web site, and now, they have turned the legal lunacy into a book. It is called, "You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant: 101 Real Dumb Laws."
And the authors, who just graduated high school -- incredible. They're spending their summer vacation on a book tour here, and they are joining us here in the studios. Gentlemen, good morning.
ANDY POWELL, "101 REAL DUMB LAWS": Good morning.
JEFF KOON, "101 REAL DUMB LAWS": Hey.
KAGAN: First, America is dying to know, where may you not tie an alligator to a fire hydrant? Where is that illegal?
KOON: That's in Michigan.
KAGAN: Michigan. So don't do that. Perhaps some place else.
KOON: Possibly.
KAGAN: When you first put this together in a web site, I heard it was stupidest laws, or real stupid laws.
POWELL: It was stupid laws, and the only reason it was named stupid laws is because Jeff told me, let's make a web site, we call it "dumb laws." And so, I was working real late one night, and I forgot what I was supposed to call the web site, and so I named it "stupid laws."
KAGAN: Oh, OK.
POWELL: The name lived for about -- about a year.
KAGAN: And then what happened?
KOON: We changed it.
KAGAN: Changed it.
(CROSSTALK)
KOON: Dumb Laws is a little more catchier, shorter, easier to remember.
KAGAN: Well, clearly it is working. Let's look at some of these laws here. Some of these -- in Massachusetts, we find out it is illegal to scare pigeons. In Delaware, it is illegal to sell perfume as a drink. In Alabama, illegal to get an animal drunk. I guess you can't get an animal drunk with perfume either, if you cross those two states.
Let's look at a couple more. Oregon, illegal to pump your own gas. What is that about? Why would it be illegal to pump your own gas?
KOON: The same thing in New Jersey. For some reason, they must feel the population is capable of pumping their own gas.
KAGAN: And in Oklahoma, on Sundays, Andy, you can eat hamburgers, but only in restaurants.
POWELL: You know, some of these are truly dumb. You can assign an explanation to many of these, but that one, I honestly have no idea.
KAGAN: What's neat about the book is you go through -- I mean, you don't just write the law, but -- you state the law, but then you actually put the section, what the number is, and the code number. And some explain what will happen to you if, in fact, you do break that law.
POWELL: Right.
KOON: Right. We do cite the actual law, and violation -- what will happen to you if you do break it.
POWELL: Well, people e-mail us all the time and say how do you guys make all these up? And I tell people, we don't make them up. They have already been made up, and all we did was find them.
KAGAN: And how did you find them?
KOON: Most of the states and counties and cities have their laws published on-line, so we can search through them.
KAGAN: Yes, but that is tons and tons of work. I mean, that must be a lot to sort through.
KOON: We've been working -- we've been working on it for a good four years now.
KAGAN: Really? So let's do some math here. You guys are both 18 now, so go back to being 14. Most 14-year-olds are not thinking forward and thinking, I am going to build a Web site and look through a bunch of county and state laws.
POWELL: We weren't thinking forward either. We were in Algebra II and we didn't really want to do Algebra II at the time. So we decided to start a Web site.
KAGAN: So this is what happens when you don't want to do algebra?
KOON: I guess so.
KAGAN: How did you do in the class, by the way? Do you remember?
KOON: Fair.
POWELL: One of my few high school B's.
KAGAN: Let's go ahead and look at a couple more laws -- do we have them -- OK. In Massachusetts, illegal to wear stilts at a construction site, and in Kentucky, no reptiles in church services.
Now, what do you do if you need to bring your alligator to church?
KOON: We can't...
POWELL: Tie it to a fire hydrant, just not in Michigan.
KAGAN: And we have just a couple more I want to put up here, and as we do, I want you guys to tell me -- Rhode Island, it is illegal to challenge, or accept, a duel.
KOON: Even if it is never fought.
KAGAN: Even if never fought, it is breaking a law. And in your home state of Georgia -- all right -- and in Georgia, it's illegal to punch people who say mean things. Now, that is the Southern spirit of being nice, isn't it?
POWELL: You know, it sure is. I think that characterizes us all well.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Now tell me -- this has gotten a lot bigger. When you were a bunch of 14-year-old kids, just getting together, trying to think of something to do instead of Algebra II, you couldn't imagine a web site and a book. How did this get to be so big?
KOON: Right. It began as a hobby, something just to do in our spare time, and it grew out of that into something that made a little money off the Web site, then got approached to do a book, and so here we are today.
KAGAN: And here you are, sitting in New York City, in the big city. This is fascinating the guys on the other side of the room. ANDY SERWER, EDITOR AT LARGE, "FORTUNE": We are leaning in. We want to know about some dumb laws in New York.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to know if you guys have a favorite that you came across.
KOON: In Moab, Utah, it is illegal to set a booby trap in the city limits.
HEMMER: Don't want that to happen.
KAGAN: I actually found one -- I found one for you, Bill. In San Luis Obispo, in my home state of California, it's illegal -- you may not pee in your own backyard, unless you have a good high fence.
HEMMER: We need to change that to urinate. It is a family program.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Did you know that...
KAGAN: That it is. Wait -- quickly, I want to find out -- we are going to be talking business, but these clearly are some young businessmen. What is next for both of you?
POWELL: Well, we have both got college ahead of us in the fall. We leave Columbus for college in August, and we plan to continue the Web site, all the way throughout college, and hopefully, perhaps even follow this up with a second book.
KAGAN: But going to different colleges.
HEMMER: All right.
KAGAN: Georgia, and Georgia Tech represented in the house right now.
HEMMER: Good luck, men.
CAFFERTY: Obey the law.
POWELL: Thank you.
HEMMER: And don't pump your gas in Jersey, by the way.
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