Last week, at the stroke of midnight, as Americans celebrated the beginning of 2012, thousands of new laws went on the books across the nation and in the federal code—745 in California alone.
Some of these laws are necessary, but others, unfortunately, are unhelpfully adding to the already hefty criminal codes in each state and in the federal government.
The Independent Women’s Forum has pointed out some of these new crimes created by state legislatures.
In California, for example, parents will now receive a minimum $475 criminal citation if a child under eight is not in a car seat. A second offense carries a criminal penalty of over $1,000.
California has also made it a misdemeanor offense to sell alcoholic beverages from self-checkout lanes.
Utah has made it illegal to offer a discount on an alcoholic beverage—at any time, any day. The penalties for a violation range from licensure revocation to hefty fines.
This is just a small portion of the new laws that went into effect on January 1. Many of the tens of thousands of criminal laws already in effect across the United States are questionable, and adding to this tally is a dubious venture.