(Several new laws go into effect with the new year)...One such law expands on an existing law.

That law allows restaurants to distribute single-use straws only upon request. Take out restaurants can only give consumers single use condiment packages like ketchup and mustard and utensils like knives, forks and spoons, only if the customer requests them. They are among several new laws designed to cut down on waste. California becomes the first state to require large department stores to display products like toys and toothbrushes in gender-neutral ways. The law does not include clothes. This law goes into effect now, but will not be enforced until the start of 2024. Laws that restrict police. Several of those laws fizzled in 2020, but were signed into law in 2021. One of the laws limits police use of rubber bullets against protesters, and provides a way to decertify troubled officers. Some of the decertification rules don't take effect until early 2023. California will continue to take steps to ease criminal penalties, in an effort to reduce mass incarceration. Among the new laws, ending mandatory minimum prison or jail sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, giving judges more discretion to impose probation or other alternative sentences. A 2019 law will be expanded. The law is the felony murder rule. The new law says only those directly responsible for a murder can be charged with a felony. It eliminates felony charges against accomplices