[JURIST] New laws took effect in many US states Sunday with the start of the fiscal year on July 1, including a law in Virginia [JURIST news archive] that requires convicted sex offenders to register e-mail addresses with the state, a law in California [JURIST news archive] that bans the sales of soda in schools, and a law in Colorado [JURIST news archive] that will ban abstinence-only sex education in all schools, except for one district.

Mobile home owners in Indiana [JURIST news archive] will now be required to have weather radio after a 2005 tornado in the southwest corner of the state killed dozens of people in a mobile home park. A new law taking effect in Kansas [JURIST news archive] declares English as the state's official language [AP report]. Laws in Nevada and Minnesota will encourage alternative energy and laws in Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania will bring higher minimum wages [JURIST news archives]. The New York Times has more.