(Newser)
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While everyone fretted about the fiscal cliff, thousands of new state laws quietly took effect at midnight. The Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, and Mediaite run down a few notable ones, from the weird (feral hogs?) to the more conventional:
- Caylee's Law: Legislation named after Caylee Anthony took effect in California and Illinois. Parents now face big penalties if they don't report the disappearance or death of a child within one day.
- Abortion: Partial-birth abortions are now banned in New Hampshire. In Montana, minors wanting an abortion must notify their parents.
- Illegal immigration: Employers in some states are now required to use the E-Verify system to confirm citizenship of their employees.
- Facebook: Employers can no longer ask job applicants for Facebook or Twitter passwords.
- Food safety: In Maryland, it's now illegal to use chicken feed that includes arsenic. Though it's the first state to pass such a ban, the practice is already illegal in Canada and the EU.
- Driverless cars: Are now legal on California roads, though a human must always be in the passenger seat.
- Weirder laws: No releasing feral hogs in Kentucky, and no using a dog to chase a bear or a bobcat in California. Strip clubs in Illinois must now charge $3 at the door and donate it to rape crisis centers. Also in Illinois, motorcycle wheelies are now banned.
Also today,
same-sex marriage became legal in Maryland.
