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California

If you are a teacher in California, you will now be required to teach students about gay history and the contributions that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community has made to society under the landmark SB48 law.

Georgia

A new statewide law mandates safety features in golf carts, including brakes, reverse warning function, main on/off power switch, headlights, reflectors, tail lights, a horn, a review mirror, safety warning labels, hip restraints, and hand holds.

Illinois

As of Jan. 1, motorcyclists can now run a red light but first must wait for a “reasonable amount of time” before proceeding through an intersection.

Michigan

The Great Lake state  has eliminated the minimum hunting age, allowing kids under 10 to hunt turkey, deer and other wildlife with an adult who’s at least 21 years old.

New York

If you put your TV or computer out on the street, don’t expect anyone to pick it up. Sanitation workers are now prohibited from collecting these items. In addition, fertilizing your lawn in the Empire State from December to April is also no longer allowed.

Ohio, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington

These states will experience automatic increases in minimum wage, totaling between 28 and 37 cents.

Rhode Island, Tennessee

Election law changes in Rhode Island and Tennessee will require voters to present photo ID, a measure that supporters say prevents fraud and that opponents say will make it harder for minorities and the elderly to cast ballots.

South Carolina

If businesses fail to check new hires’ legal status through E-verify, an Internet-based free program run by the U.S. government, officials will be able to yank their operating licenses.

Utah

Don’t go to Utah if you are looking to enjoy happy hour. This state’s new law bans daily drink specials.

These are just some of the new rules that have gone into effect on January 1st. Do any of them affect you?

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The complexities of the legal system often debunk Americans from delving into clauses of breakthrough bills. Although many believe the country has not changed much in the past fifty years, there have been several laws that counter those arguments.

In the following slide show we include 10 policies that have changed and impacted the African-American community.

Read more at The Atlanta Post

Click here to view photos:

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WASHINGTON — Trumpeting a victory against careless spending, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a defense bill that kills some costly U.S. weapons projects and expands war efforts. In a major civil rights change, the law also makes it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation.

The $680 billion policy bill authorizespending but doesn’t provide any actual dollars. Rather it sets guidance that is typically followed by congressional committees that decide appropriations. Obama hailed it as a step toward ending needless military spending that he called “an affront to the American people and to our troops.”

RELATED: Hate Crimes Bill Goes To Obama For Signing

Still, the president did not win every fiscal fight. He acknowledged he was putting his name to a bill that still had waste.

The measure expands current hate crimes law to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to the must-pass defense policy bill over the stern objections of many Republicans.

The White House put most of its focus on what the bill does contain: project after project that Obama billed as unneeded. The bill terminates production of the F-22 fighter jet program, which has its origins in the Cold War era and, its critics maintain, is poorly suited for anti-insurgent battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates targeted certain projects for elimination, putting them at odds with some lawmakers. The same spending items deemed unnecessary or outdated by Pentagon officials can mean lost jobs and political fallout for lawmakers back in their home districts.

“When Secretary Gates and I first proposed going after some of these wasteful projects, there were a lot of people who didn’t think it was possible, who were certain we were going to lose, who were certain that we were going to get steamrolled,” Obama said. “Today, we have proven them wrong.”

In another of several examples, the legislation terminates the replacement helicopter program for the president’s own fleet. That program is six years behind schedule and estimated costs have doubled to more than $13 billion.

RELATED: Eric Holder Pushes For War Against Hate Crimes

Yet the legislation still contains an effort by lawmakers to continue development — over the president’s strong objections — of a costly alternative engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force’s fighter of the future. A White House veto threat about that never happened.

“There’s still more fights that we need to win,” Obama said. “Changing the culture in Washington will take time and sustained effort.”

Obama signed the bill in the East Room, adding some fanfare to draw attention to his message of fiscal responsibility and support for the military.

He spoke more personally about the new civil rights protections. A priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat, that had been on the congressional agenda for a decade, the measure is named for Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student murdered 11 years ago.

Obama acknowledged Shepard’s mother, Judy, and remembered that he had told her this day would come. He also acknowledged Kennedy’s family. Going forward, Obama promised, people will be protected from violence based on “what they look like, who they love, how they pray or why they are.”

“This is a landmark step in eliminating the kind of hate motivated violence that has taken the lives of so many in our community,” said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

The expansion has long been sought by civil rights and gay rights groups. Conservatives have opposed it, arguing that it creates a special class of victims. They also have been concerned that it could silence clergymen or others opposed to homosexuality on religious or philosophical grounds.

On the military front, the legislation approves Obama’s $130 billion request as the latest installment of money toward the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The far-reaching law also prohibits the Obama administration from transferring any detainee being held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba to the U.S. for trial until 45 days after it has given notice to Congress. Guantanamo prisoners could not be released into the U.S.

From CNN.com:

The Senate passed groundbreaking legislation Thursday that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

The expanded federal hate crimes law now goes to President Obama’s desk. Obama has pledged to sign the measure, which was added to a $680 billion defense authorization bill.

President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure.

The bill is named for Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year.

“Knowing that the president will sign it, unlike his predecessor, has made all the hard work this year to pass it worthwhile,” said Judy Shepard, board president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation named for her son. “Hate crimes continue to affect far too many Americans who are simply trying to live their lives honestly, and they need to know that their government will protect them from violence, and provide appropriate justice for victims and their families.”

Several religious groups have expressed concern that a hate-crimes law could be used to criminalize conservative speech relating to subjects such as abortion or homosexuality.

Attorney General Eric Holder has asserted that any federal hate-crimes law would be used only to prosecute violent acts based on bias, as opposed to the prosecution of speech based on controversial racial or religious beliefs.

Holder called Thursday’s 68-29 Senate vote to approve the defense spending bill that included the hate crimes measure “a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence.”

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