BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2247
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2012
Counsel: Sandy Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2247 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: March 27, 2012
SUMMARY : Increases the penalties for the unauthorized sales or
peddling of any good, merchandise, property, or services in a
transit facility or vehicle. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes a first or second violation of unauthorized sales or
peddling on or in a public transit facility or vehicle an
infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 and by
community service not to exceed 48 hours.
2)Makes a third or subsequent violation of unauthorized sales or
peddling on or in a public transit facility or vehicle
punishable by a fine not to exceed $400, or by imprisonment in
the county jail for up to 90 days, or by both a fine and
imprisonment.
3)Repeals Penal Code Section 602.7.
4)Makes conforming changes to other statutes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits unauthorized sales or peddling on any property,
facility, or vehicle owned by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid
Transit District or the Southern California Rapid Transit
District, and makes this conduct punishable as an infraction.
�Penal Code Section 602.7]
2)Makes any of the following acts committed on or in a public
transit facility or vehicle an infraction punishable by a fine
not to exceed $250, and by up to 48 hours of community
service:
a) Eating or drinking in or on a system facility or vehicle
in areas where those activities are prohibited by that
system;
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b) Disturbing another person by loud or unreasonable noise;
c) Smoking in or on a system facility or vehicle in areas
where those activities are prohibited by that system;
d) Expectorating upon a system facility or vehicle; and
e) Skateboarding, roller skating, bicycle riding, roller
blading, or operating a motorized scooter a system
facility, vehicle, or parking structure. This paragraph
does not apply to an activity that is necessary for
utilization of the transit facility by a bicyclist,
including, but not limited to, an activity that is
necessary for parking a bicycle or transporting a bicycle
aboard a transit vehicle, if that activity is conducted
with the permission of the transit agency in a manner that
does not interfere with the safety of the bicyclist or
other patrons of the transit facility. �Penal Code Section
640(a) and (b).]
3)Punishes a first or second violation of the following acts as
an infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed $250, and by
up to 48 hours of community service, and punishes a third or
subsequent violation as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
not more than $400 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a
period of not more than 90 days, or by both that fine and
imprisonment:
a) Evasion of the payment of a fare of the system. For
purposes of this section, fare evasion includes entering an
enclosed area of a public transit facility beyond posted
signs prohibiting entrance without obtaining valid fare, in
addition to entering a transit vehicle without valid fare;
b) Misuse of a transfer, pass, ticket, or token with the
intent to evade the payment of a fare; and
c) Unauthorized use of a discount ticket or failure to
present proof of eligibility to use a discount ticket.
�Penal Code Section 640(a) and (c).]
4)Provides that the following acts committed on or in a public
transit facility or vehicle are punishable by a fine of not
more than $400, by imprisonment in the county jail for a
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period of not more than 90 days, or by both that fine and
imprisonment:
a) Willfully disturbing others on or in a system facility
or vehicle by engaging in boisterous or unruly behavior;
b) Carrying an explosive, acid or inflammable liquid in a
public transit facility or vehicle;
c) Urinating or defecating in a system facility or vehicle,
except in a lavatory. However, this paragraph shall not
apply to a person who cannot comply with this paragraph as
a result of a disability, age, or a medical condition;
d) Willfully blocking the free movement of another person
in a system facility; and
e) Willfully tampering with, removing, displacing,
injuring, or destroying any part of any light rail train or
bus equipment. �Penal Code Section 640(a) and (d).]
5)Declares that notwithstanding statutory provisions deeming
certain acts as to be infractions, specified transit
authorities may enact and enforce an ordinance providing that
any of the specified acts over which the authority has
jurisdiction, shall be subject only to an administrative
penalty imposed and enforced in a civil proceeding. �Penal
Code Section 640(e).]
6)Permits specified local or regional transit agencies to
contract with designated persons to act as its agents in
enforcing statutory provision relating to public transit
offenses. These persons are designated as public officers,
not peace officers, and are not allowed to carry weapons or to
exercise arrest powers. They may issue citations for
infractions occurring in a public transit facility or vehicle.
(Penal Code Section 830.14.)
7)Provides that any violation which is an infraction is
punishable by a fine not exceeding $250, except where a
statute expressly provides for a lesser maximum fine. (Penal
Code Section 19.8.)
8)Provides that an infraction is not punishable by imprisonment.
(Penal Code Section 19.6.)
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9)States that a person charged with an infraction shall not be
entitled to a trial by jury, or to have the public defender or
other counsel appointed at public expense to represent him or
her unless he or she is arrested and not released on his or
her written promise to appear, his or her own recognizance, or
a deposit of bail. (Penal Code Section 19.6.)
10) States that, except as otherwise provided by law, all
provisions of law relating to misdemeanors shall apply to
infractions including, but not limited to, powers of peace
officers, jurisdiction of courts, periods for commencing
action and for bringing a case to trial and burden of proof.
(Penal Code Section 19.7.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "The people who
take public transit in California are, whether by choice or
not, environmental heroes.
"One of the ways we can say thank you is to do everything we can
to make sure transit is clean, safe and orderly.
"AB 2247 moves in that direction by making it easier to ride a
train without being set upon by so-called pirate vendors, who
sell bootlegged DVDs and other items, from platforms, or by
going car to car, intruding on what little personal space a
passenger has.
"Riders have complained. AB 2247 will address this important
issue and will go a long way to create a safer and more
comfortable public transit experience for all Californians."
2)Processes for Enforcing Public Transit Offenses : Under
current law, the courts have jurisdiction to handle infraction
offenses. (Penal Code Section 19.7.) The standard way to
enforce public transit criminal infractions is for the transit
officer to give the alleged violator a citation with a court
date, which the alleged violator signs promising to appear.
The court later sends a notice to the alleged violator
reminding him or her of the court date, listing the bail
amount, and stating that he/she must appear unless the bail is
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paid.
However, existing law also allows specified transit authorities
to establish an alternative civil infraction process for
specified transit violations that occur within their systems.
�See Penal Code Section 640(e).] One major benefit of
"decriminalizing" these offenses and handling them
administratively is that penalty assessments are not imposed
on the base fine.
For example, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority informs the Committee that when a
citation is processed through the court system, the infraction
is punished with a $30 fine, but that fine is subject to
numerous penalty assessments. If the case is handled by way
of an administrative ticket, the offender is charged $75,
without penalty assessments. Alternatively, the offender can
participate in an on-line transit school tutorial, and the fee
is reduced by $15. (See also
.)
It should be noted that under existing law, the administrative
procedure does not apply to juveniles. �Public Utilities Code
Section 99580(a).] Those cases must be handled in the
juvenile court system.
3)Existing Penalty Assessments : There are penalty assessments
and fees assessed on the base fine for any criminal offense.
Assuming a first or second-time offender was fined the maximum
of $250 allowed for an infraction , the following penalty
assessments would be imposed pursuant to the Penal Code and
the Government Code:
Base Fine: $ 250
Penal Code 1464 assessment: $ 250($10 for
every $10)
Penal Code 1465.7 assessment: 50(20%
surcharge)
Penal Code 1465.8 assessment: 40($40 fee
per criminal offense)
Government Code 70372 assessment: 125($5 for
every $10)
Government Code 70373 assessment: 35($35 for
infractions)
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Government Code 76000 assessment: 175($7 for
every $10)
Government Code 76000.5 assessment: 50($2 for
every $10)
Government Code 76104.6 assessment: 25($1
for every $10)
Government Code 76104.7 assessment 75($3
for every $10)
Total Fine with Assessments: $1,075
4)Creation of New Misdemeanor : This bill makes third and
subsequent offenses of unauthorized sales and peddling
misdemeanors where they are now treated as infractions. This
bill would very likely aggravate jail overcrowding with very
minor offenses.
5)Arguments in Support : According to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department , the sponsor of this bill, "Under current
law, illegal sales or peddling on the public transportation
system is an infraction and has a small fine. Current law
does not provide for repeat offenders. The current provisions
are not effectively addressing this growing problem.
"This bill will move illegal sales or peddling to Penal Code
Section 640 which addresses other violations within the public
transportation system. For the first two offenses, which
would be infractions, the penalty will only be a fine and
community service. For the third violation, it would be a
misdemeanor punishable by an increased fine or short period of
time in county jail.
"The problem of illegal sales or peddling has increased as the
public transportation system has grown. These illegal
peddlers are sometimes aggressive and disrupt passengers'
transportation experience. Our Department has received
numerous complaints from riders regarding the practices of
some of these peddlers. The illegal peddlers often sell
pirated items which undermine legitimate business and
manufacturers, and these sales contribute to the loss of state
and local government tax revenue on these items. They are
also selling consumable food items without the proper
licensing which poses a threat to public health and safety."
6)Arguments in Opposition : According to the California
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Attorneys for Criminal Justice , "Essentially, this bill
codifies a prohibition that is more conducive to a policy of
local transporation agencies. The activity banned by this
statute does little or any harm to society and our court
system should not be besieged by thousands of cases each year
for offering to sell a rose to someone on a bus - even if
there is a willing purchaser.
"Although this bill creates a 'traffic' type citation, these
cases are still handled by a branch of the local courts
thereby further distressing the financial situation of the
state. Traffic courts are handled by judicial officers and/or
commissioners and are staffed by court employees. They are
often located within a traditional courthouse next to
departments handling felonies and misdemeanors. Additionally,
it is routine for individuals to miss court appointments for a
'ticket' not fully understanding the requirement to appear in
person (especially since they are not entitled to an
attorney). These 'FTS's often result in the issuance of bench
warrants and arrests of individuals, another burden on our
courts and jails.
"Although current statute already contains limited prohibitions,
it is unclear how these statutes are being enforced. There
needs to be significant evaluation of the current statute
before seeking to expand its scope."
7)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 426 (Lowenthal), Chapter 100, Statutes of 2011,
permitted specified transit authorities to create
ordinances that allow citations for a violation to be
handled administratively.
b) SB 1320 (Hancock), Chapter 493, Statutes of 2010,
allowed the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District to adopt
and enforce an ordinance to impose and enforce civil
administrative penalties for fare evasion or passenger
misconduct, other than by minors, on or in a transit
facility or vehicle in lieu of the criminal penalties, with
specified administrative adjudication procedures for the
imposition and enforcement of the administrative penalties.
c) AB 2324 (Perez), Chapter 675, Statutes of 2010, created
new misdemeanors and recast fines and punishments for
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crimes committed upon public transit vehicle stations.
d) SB 1749 (Migden), Chapter 258, Statutes of 2006, allowed
the City and County of San Francisco and the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to adopt and
enforce an ordinance to impose and enforce civil
administrative penalties for fare evasion or passenger
misconduct, other than by minors, on or in a transit
facility or vehicle in lieu of the criminal penalties, with
specified administrative adjudication procedures for the
imposition and enforcement of the administrative penalties.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (Sponsor)
Opposition
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744