Most laws traditionally take effect on January 1 of the new year. This year, some non-traditional laws also went into effect.
Our own state of Illinois was especially prolific this year. Among the new laws are the illegalization of the possession and sale of shark fins, the reclassification of necrophilia and corpse abuse as specific crimes instead of property damage, and a prohibition against sex offenders dressing up as Santa and the Easter Bunny or distributing candy on Halloween. More seriously, it is also now against the law to not report the death or disappearance of a child under the age of thirteen, and, as in California, it is now a crime for employers to ask for social media account passwords.
Other states around the country had even stranger laws go into effect this year. California led the pack: it’s now illegal for a dog to pursue a bear or a bobcat; peace officers are also prohibited from having sex with arrestees on the way to jail; and car washes are now required to recycle 60% of their water. In Wellington, Kansas, no one can have more than four cats, while Florida revised “motor vehicle” to exclude swamp buggies. In Kentucky, feral pigs cannot be released into the wild, and Concord, Massachusetts, banned plastic water bottles.
Congress should step it up.