BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 451|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 451
Author: Portantino (D)
Amended: 8/20/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/22/10
AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant
SUBJECT : Trespass: unauthorized entry of an event
closed to the public
SOURCE : Screen Actors Guild
DIGEST : This bill defines a new form of trespass that is
committed where a person, without authorization, knowingly
enters or remains at an event that is closed to the public
under circumstances where a reasonable notice of restricted
access ahs been posted.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/10 add chaptering
amendments to protect this bill, AB 2324 (Perez), AB 1675
(Hagman), and AB 668 (Lieu), and (2) add substantive
amendments to narrow the new form of trespass defined by
this bill.
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ANALYSIS : Existing law includes numerous provisions
defining various forms of trespass and applicable
penalties. Crime definitions and penalties typically turn
on whether any damage has been done to property and whether
the trespasser refuses a valid request to leave the land.
(Penal Code Section 602-607.)
Existing law provides that any person is guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by a county jail term of up to six
months, a fine of up to $1000 or both, who enters any other
persons cultivated or fenced land, or who enters
uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding
trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to
the mile along exterior boundaries and at all roads and
trails entering the lands without written permission, and
does any of the following:
1. Refuses or fails to leave immediately upon being
requested to do so by the owner, owner's agent or by the
person in lawful possession.
2. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign or notice
forbidding trespass or hunting
3. Removes or tampers with any lock on any gate on or
leading into the lands.
4. Discharges a firearm. (Penal Code Section 602,
subdivision (k).)
Existing law generally provides that a person commits one
form of trespass to cultivated, fenced or posted land,
where he or she, without the written permission of the
landowner, the owner's agent or of the person in lawful
possession of the land:
1. Willfully enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed
by fence, belonging to, or occupied by another person.
2. Willfully enters upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands
where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at
intervals not less than three to the mile along all
exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering
the lands. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (a).)
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Existing law provides that trespassing - in circumstances
other than where the person refuses a valid order to leave
the premises, destroys a no-trespassing or no-hunting sign,
tampers with any lock, or discharges a firearm, is an
infraction or a misdemeanor, as follows:
1. First offense is an infraction, punishable by a fine of
$75. (Penal Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(1).)
2. Second offense on any contiguous land of the same owner
is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $250. (Penal
Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(2).)
3. A third or subsequent offense on any contiguous land of
the same owner is a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six
months; by a fine not to exceed $1000; or both. (Penal
Code Section 602.8, subdivision (b)(3).)
Existing law includes the following exceptions to the
trespassing law in Section 602.8:
1. A person who is conducting lawful union activities.
2. A person who is on the premises and engaging in
activities protected by the California or United States
Constitution.
3. A person making lawful service of process.
4. An appropriately licensed person engaged in land
surveying.
Existing law states that it is a misdemeanor punishable by
six months in county jail for every person who willfully
enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by fence,
belonging to, or occupied by, another, or entering upon
uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding
trespass are displayed at intervals not less than three to
the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and
trails entering the lands without the written permission of
the owner of the land, the owner's agent or of the person
in lawful possession and:
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1. Refuses or fails to leave the lands immediately upon
being requested by the owner of the land, the owner's
agent or by the person in lawful possession to leave the
lands;
2. Tears down, mutilates, or destroys any sign, signboard,
or notice forbidding trespass or hunting on the lands;
3. Removes, injures, unlocks, or tampers with any lock on
any gate on or leading into the lands.
4. Discharges any firearm. (Penal Code Section 602,
subdivision (l).)
Existing law provides that any person who willfully enters
and occupies real property or structures of any kind
without the consent of the owner, the owner's agent, or the
person in lawful possession, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Penal Code Section 602, subdivision (m).)
Existing law allows for prosecution against those who
refuse or fail to leave land, real property, or structures
belonging to or lawfully occupied by another and not open
to the general public, upon being requested to leave by a
peace officer at the request of the owner, the owner's
agent, or the person in lawful possession, and upon being
informed by the peace officer that he or she is acting at
the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person
in lawful possession or the owner, the owner's agent, or
the person in lawful possession. (Penal Code Section 602,
subdivision (o).)
Existing law provides that any person who, without the
written permission of the landowner, the owner's agent, or
the person in lawful possession of the land, willfully
enters any lands under cultivation or enclosed by a fence,
belonging to, or occupied by, another, or who willfully
enters upon uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs
forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less
than three to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at
all roads and trials entering lands, is guilty of a public
offense punishable as follows:
1. A first offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of
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$75.
2. A second offense is an infraction punishable by a fine
of $250.
3. A third or subsequent offense is a misdemeanor. (Penal
Code Section 602.8.)
This bill defines a new form of trespass that is committed
where a person knowingly enters or remains at an event not
open to the general public without authorization from the
person lawfully in possession of the property, if the area
has been posted so as to give reasonable notice restricting
access to authorized guests and persons with lawful
business therein. Reasonable notice is that which would
give actual notice to a reasonable person, and is posted at
each authorized entrance.
This bill makes it a trespass to knowingly enter an annual
event that is televised live and not open to the general
public, without authorization from the person lawfully in
possession of the property, if the area has been posted so
as to give reasonable notice restricting access, as
specified. This bill makes a violation of these provisions
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding
six months, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both, or
as an infraction, for a first offense, and by that jail
sentence or a fine of $2,000, or both, for a second or
subsequent offense.
This bill incorporates amendments to Section 19.8 of the
Penal Code proposed by AB 1675(Hagman) and AB 1829 (Cook),
contingent on the prior enactment of those bills.
This bill incorporates amendments to Section 602 of the
Penal Code proposed by AB 668 (Liu) and AB 2324 (Perez),
contingent on the prior enactment of those bills.
Background
Development of Trespass Law, Recently Defined Forms of
Trespass . California trespass law is complex. It appears
that the trespass laws were initially intended to address,
and perhaps reduce or eliminate, disputes about rural land.
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Witkin notes that "nearly all of [the various crime
provisions in the statute] relate to destruction or taking"
of property. Thus, the trespass law has traditionally not
addressed simple unauthorized entry, without some
additional harm intended or caused by the person entering
the property.
The various forms of trespass have been drafted with
detailed and specific elements. For example there are
forms of trespass for entering land to cut down wood, to
carry away wood, to destroy or carry away oysters, opening
a gate and leaving it open without the consent of the
owner.
Thus, there is no true general form of trespass. Each form
of trespass must be specifically stated. The main trespass
statute, Penal Code Section 602, actually is a collection
of many separate crimes. The section has been amended
relatively frequently in recent years to address unique
circumstances that were not specifically address in the
law. In 2003, a new form of trespass was defined for
entering lands where animals are being bred. Another form
of trespass defined in 2003 concerned entering a maternity
ward without consent, and another bill defined a new form
of trespass for entering the secure portion of an airport.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/10)
Screen Actors Guild (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by the
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and addresses a problem they have
had with "party crashers" at their official functions or
events. SAG had some event-crashers at the SAG Awards Show
in January of this year. Several individuals were able to
gain unauthorized access to the event and security was able
to identify them quickly remove them from the premises.
The Academy Awards and other awards events have also
experienced unauthorized attendance at events that are not
open to the public.
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In this instance, SAG made a citizen's arrest and held the
trespassers until the Los Angeles Police Department showed
up to take them away. Due to a technical flaw contained in
specific portions of existing California law relating to
trespass, the Los Angeles City Attorney was not able to
prosecute these individuals.
Penal Code Section 602 covers trespassing under numerous
specific instances that specify the acts that constitute
the crime of trespass. Because of how this code section is
written, none of these definitions are adequate to
uniformly support a charge of trespass for "gate crashers."
This bill provides a method to keep unauthorized
individuals from attending events that are closed to the
public. To constitute a trespass the bill requires the
area to be posted so as to give reasonable notice
restricting access to authorized guests and persons with
lawful business to pursue therein. Reasonable notice is
that which would give actual notice to a reasonable person,
and is posted at each authorized entrance.
RJG:do 8/22/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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