Some news laws in CA for 2012 (Liquor purchases in self-checkout outlawed, etc)

[The Straight Story]

Impounding cars of unlicensed drivers prohibited

DUI checkpoints pop up all the time, especially around New Year's. But those checkpoints face new restrictions in 2012.

In years past, it wasn't just drunk drivers who saw their cars or trucks taken at sobriety checkpoints alongside the road, KQED's John Myers reports. Some lost their vehicles because they didn't have a driver's license. Latino rights activists argued that in many cases it was mostly undocumented immigrants who had their cars impounded and faced large fines by local governments.

Liquor purchases in self-checkout outlawed

That quick trip to the grocery store may take a little longer in the new year if it involves selling alcohol.

A new law concerning those popular self-checkout lanes is pretty simple, reports John Myers. If you're going to buy beer, wine or alcohol, you'll have to check out at a supermarket the old-fashioned way -- with a clerk.

Transitional Kindergarten gets underway

The law requires children to be five years old by Sept 1 of any given year in order to enter kindergarten. Kids that don’t fall into that age requirement will attend a new grade – called Transitional Kindergarten. The state’s 700 districts with elementary schools have the next three years to ramp up these programs.

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/12/30/new-california-laws-lots-of-them/