Thousands of New Laws in Effect, Some of Them Odd

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. (More state law stories.)