California’s Crazy New Year: Five Radical Laws Go into Effect (One on Hold)

California will see several radical laws go into effect on Sunday, January 1, including a law making the state a “sanctuary” for “transgender kids,” and a law imposing penalties on doctors for COVID “misinformation.”

Here are the five most radical new laws — plus one that is currently on hold in the courts — taking place on New Year’s Day in the Golden State, with little effective opposition from a shrinking Republican legislative minority:

1. SB 107: ‘Sanctuary State’ for ‘Transgender Kids’ – This law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in September, protects the use of drugs or surgery to provide so-called “gender-affirming care” to children from other states where the use of such treatments is restricted or criminalized. It prohibits doctors from releasing information to other states, and prohibits California courts interfering in child custody over such treatments.

2. AB 2098: ‘COVID Misinformation’ – This law, signed in September, requires California’s medical licensing boards to take disciplinary action against doctors who are involved with the “dissemination of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or ‘COVID-19’.” The law does not take into account the fact that authorities like Dr. Anthony Fauci changed their recommendations over time.

3. AB 2147: Decriminalizing Jaywalking Because of Racism – This law, called the “Freedom to Walk Act,” presumes that jaywalking is a racist crime because it is supposedly enforced unevenly — by the nation’s most left-wing state — in “communities of color” where people supposedly cannot afford to pay the fines. The law prevents police from stopping people who are crossing the street illegally unless they are in danger.

4. SB 1375: Allowing Nurses to Perform Abortions Without Doctors – This law attempts to expand access to abortion by allowing qualified nurses to perform certain abortion procedures in the first trimester of pregnancy without the supervision of a doctor. This new law will take effect alongside a new provision in the California constitution, passed by a referendum in 2022, guaranteeing the right to abortion and contraception.

5. SB 357: Decriminalizing Loitering for Prostitution – This law, another by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), decriminalizes loitering in public for the purpose of committing prostitution (which remains a crime). It also allows those convicted of such loitering to petition courts for the dismissal and sealing of their cases. The law aims to remove the social stigma of sex work; it also comes amid a statewide crime wave.

On hold: AB 257: State Control of Fast Food Restaurants – As reported last year by Breitbart News, this law “creates a ten-member politburo, known as the Fast Food Council, which would serve for ten years” and would set wages and working conditions for the fast food industry. It has been suspended by the courts, after a coalition of restaurants that collected petition signatures law sued to block it until a referendum can be held.

Newsom has signed several other radical laws that go into effect in future years. He is currently thought to be mulling a run for president, and is establishing a national reputation as a left-wing leader on cultural issues.

Update: SB 1327: Allowing Private Citizens to Sue for Gun Violations – This law still took effect on January 1, though it was partially blocked by a San Diego judge. It allows private citizens to sue each other over alleged violations of the state’s gun laws (the judge blocked the fee-shifting provision that requires defendants to pay the entire legal costs). Newsom modeled the law after a similar Texas law on restricting abortions.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.