SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Saturday marked the first day some new laws went into effect in California.
Senate Bill 731 will automatically seal criminal records for those who completed their sentences and do not commit another crime for four years
“I think it's going to not just lift people’s spirits, but make them feel better about themselves and give them a lot more confidence and open more doors for them," said Jeff Armstrong, marketing director at Northern California Construction Training. "So it's a big win too, a big win for everybody."
The law creates exceptions for sex crimes and violent felonies, and all records will still be shared with law enforcement and school districts.
The law is opposed by groups like the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) that point out the list of violent felonies in California is not long.
"Some of the more serious violent criminals like domestic violence and deadly weapon convictions, unfortunately, were still in the bill," said Brian Marvel PORAC president. "So that's why we remain opposed to it."
Californians can also now sue the gun industry for manufacturing or selling illegal firearms. Assemblymember Phil Ting introduced the legislation.
"What we are quite simply trying to do is just to make sure that gun manufacturers are really held responsible for the harm that guns do on our streets every day here in California," said Ting.
The law is currently being challenged in court.
There is also the "Bacon Law," which voters approved to give breeding pigs more room to stand and turn around in their pens. The Humane Society of the United States led the campaign.
It’s opposed by pig farmers and the past president of the California Pork Producers Association Steve Weaver, who says they were already following standards and this will push buyers to purchase elsewhere.
“One of the places that it could come from is from overseas, from some other country. Who may say? But there's no way to force that they're meeting the requirements by the state of California," said Weaver. "California doesn't have people that they can send abroad to check on them.”
There’s also another law that went into effect on Saturday aimed at cracking down on retail theft, by making large third-party sellers disclose their bank account details, their name and an address.
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