A number of new laws became effective on July 1st. For the most part, when a bill is enacted into law in California, its effective date is governed by Government Code § 9600, which sets forth when an enactment takes effect. Since 1974, the general rule regarding a legislative action’s effective date is that it becomes effective on January 1, of the year following the enactment. Prior to 1974, from the years 1967 through 1972, the legislature addressed legislation substantively annually. Prior to 1965, the legislature met every year, but legislation was substantively considered only in odd-numbered year, with even-numbered reserved for ... Read More >
Jul 10
States’ criminal justice systems embrace DNA testing
Multi-State DNA Laws: The use of DNA [“deoxyribonucleic acid”] as evidence in criminal trials was brought to the public’s intense and graphic attention 20 years ago during the O.J. Simpson trial. Over the next two decades, its prominence as an evidentiary tool has gained a strong and broad foothold in states’ criminal justice systems because DNA testing in today's forensic genetics laboratories is highly automated, highly reproducible, and the variation detected is capable of potentially matching the DNA profile at a crime scene to one individual in the world with significant statistical probability. DNA is also very tough stuff – it ... Read More >
Jun 30
Four Weird Laws That People Still Have to Deal With
Let's be honest for a minute. Tons of old, legal statutes are pretty difficult to understand. They're written in a dialect of English known as Legalese, which uses complicated jargon stemming from Latin and often lacks punctuation. However, what makes these legal statutes most baffling is their seeming lack of legislative intent. Though they might have made sense in the past, the issues they were created to rectify are no longer problematic to our society, and so these archaic legal statutes remain on the books as quirky old relics. What's interesting about these laws is how governments deal with them. Some simply ignore them, some ... Read More >
May 28
Three of the Most Bizarre Driving Laws You’ll Ever Hear About
Did you know that in Russia it's illegal to have a dirty car? Or that in France, every driver must legally carry a personal breathalyzer in their vehicle? Or how about the fact that in Japan, you can get fined $65 if you accidentally splash a pedestrian as you drive through a puddle? Don't laugh too hard, though. The United States isn't entirely innocent of having weird driving laws. Here are just a few such odd legal statutes from across the nation. California The sunshine state's books are full of weird legal statutes. In Glendale, action heroes could face a fine for jumping out of cars speeding in excess of 65 miles per hour. In ... Read More >
May 27
Latest Legislation . . . and its past history: Assembly Bill 1576 of 2014, amending Labor Code §6319.3 and 6401.7 “California Condoms in Porn” Bill
Latest Legislation . . . and its past history: Assembly Bill 1576 of 2014, amending Labor Code §6319.3 and 6401.7 “California Condoms in Porn” Bill Assembly Bill 1576 authored by Assembly member Isadore Hall and known as “California’s condoms in porn” bill is making its way through the Legislature this session. This bill requires, among other items, that an adult film employer ensures “personal protective equipment” be used during the production of an adult film. Assembly Bill 1576 has been amended four times as of May 14, 2014 and currently proposes to amend Labor Code sections 6319.3 and 6401.7. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation ... Read More >
Apr 21
Three Kinds of Weird Laws Still on the Books
Legal statutes are products of their time and people, but as time marches on and people grow, some certain legal statutes start to seen rather... odd. Here are a few laws that at some point in time made sense, but now may need to be scratched off their respective books. Regarding Our Animal Friends In Alaska, it's illegal to push a live moose out of an airplane. Such a law seems to imply that at one point in time, Alaskans were really suffering from an absurd number of moose falling from the skies. In Illinois, there's a legal statute forbidding people from giving their dogs whiskey, which seems to imply a similar story. In Minnesota, a ... Read More >