2010 California Code
Penal Code
Title 11.7. California Freedom Of Access To Clinic And Church Entrances Act

423.  This title shall be known and may be cited as the California
Freedom of Access to Clinic and Church Entrances Act, or the
California FACE Act.


423.1.  The following definitions apply for the purposes of this
title:
   (a) "Crime of violence" means an offense that has as an element
the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against
the person or property of another.
   (b) "Interfere with" means to restrict a person's freedom of
movement.
   (c) "Intimidate" means to place a person in reasonable
apprehension of bodily harm to herself or himself or to another.
   (d) "Nonviolent" means conduct that would not constitute a crime
of violence.
   (e) "Physical obstruction" means rendering ingress to or egress
from a reproductive health services facility or to or from a place of
religious worship impassable to another person, or rendering passage
to or from a reproductive health services facility or a place of
religious worship unreasonably difficult or hazardous to another
person.
   (f) "Reproductive health services" means reproductive health
services provided in a hospital, clinic, physician's office, or other
facility and includes medical, surgical, counseling, or referral
services relating to the human reproductive system, including
services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.
   (g) "Reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant"
means a person or entity that is or was involved in obtaining,
seeking to obtain, providing, seeking to provide, or assisting or
seeking to assist another person, at that other person's request, to
obtain or provide any services in a reproductive health services
facility, or a person or entity that is or was involved in owning or
operating or seeking to own or operate, a reproductive health
services facility.
   (h) "Reproductive health services facility" includes a hospital,
clinic, physician's office, or other facility that provides or seeks
to provide reproductive health services and includes the building or
structure in which the facility is located.




423.2.  Every person who, except a parent or guardian acting towards
his or her minor child or ward, commits any of the following acts
shall be subject to the punishment specified in Section 423.3.
   (a) By force, threat of force, or physical obstruction that is a
crime of violence, intentionally injures, intimidates, interferes
with, or attempts to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, any
person or entity because that person or entity is a reproductive
health services client, provider, or assistant, or in order to
intimidate any person or entity, or any class of persons or entities,
from becoming or remaining a reproductive health services client,
provider, or assistant.
   (b) By force, threat of force, or physical obstruction that is a
crime of violence, intentionally injures, intimidates, interferes
with, or attempts to injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person
lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right
of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
   (c) By nonviolent physical obstruction, intentionally injures,
intimidates, or interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate,
or interfere with, any person or entity because that person or entity
is a reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant, or
in order to intimidate any person or entity, or any class of persons
or entities, from becoming or remaining a reproductive health
services client, provider, or assistant.
   (d) By nonviolent physical obstruction, intentionally injures,
intimidates, or interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate,
or interfere with, any person lawfully exercising or seeking to
exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of
religious worship.
   (e) Intentionally damages or destroys the property of a person,
entity, or facility, or attempts to do so, because the person,
entity, or facility is a reproductive health services client,
provider, assistant, or facility.
   (f) Intentionally damages or destroys the property of a place of
religious worship.


423.3.  (a) A first violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of Section
423.2 is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
for a period of not more than six months and a fine not to exceed two
thousand dollars ($2,000).
   (b) A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (c) or (d) of
Section 423.2 is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for a period of not more than six months and a fine not
to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
   (c) A first violation of subdivision (a), (b), (e), or (f) of
Section 423.2 is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for a period of not more than one year and a fine not to
exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
   (d) A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (a), (b), (e),
or (f) of Section 423.2 is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail for a period of not more than one year and a fine
not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
   (e) In imposing fines pursuant to this section, the court shall
consider applicable factors in aggravation and mitigation set out in
Rules 4.421 and 4.423 of the California Rules of Court, and shall
consider a prior violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic
Entrances Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 248), or a prior violation of
a statute of another jurisdiction that would constitute a violation
of Section 423.2 or of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic
Entrances Act of 1994, to be a prior violation of Section 423.2.
   (f) This title establishes concurrent state jurisdiction over
conduct that is also prohibited by the federal Freedom of Access to
Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 248), which provides for
more severe misdemeanor penalties for first violations and
felony-misdemeanor penalties for second and subsequent violations.
State law enforcement agencies and prosecutors shall cooperate with
federal authorities in the prevention, apprehension, and prosecution
of these crimes, and shall seek federal prosecutions when
appropriate.
   (g) No person shall be convicted under this article for conduct in
violation of Section 423.2 that was done on a particular occasion
where the identical conduct on that occasion was the basis for a
conviction of that person under the federal Freedom of Access to
Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 248).



423.4.  (a) A person aggrieved by a violation of Section 423.2 may
bring a civil action to enjoin the violation, for compensatory and
punitive damages, and for the costs of suit and reasonable fees for
attorneys and expert witnesses, except that only a reproductive
health services client, provider, or assistant may bring an action
under subdivision (a), (c), or (e) of Section 423.2, and only a
person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment
right of religious freedom in a place of religious worship, or the
entity that owns or operates a place of religious worship, may bring
an action under subdivision (b), (d), or (f) of Section 423.2. With
respect to compensatory damages, the plaintiff may elect, at any time
prior to the rendering of a final judgment, to recover, in lieu of
actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the amount of one
thousand dollars ($1,000) per exclusively nonviolent violation, and
five thousand dollars ($5,000) per any other violation, for each
violation committed.
   (b) The Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney
may bring a civil action to enjoin a violation of Section 423.2, for
compensatory damages to persons aggrieved as described in subdivision
(a) and for the assessment of a civil penalty against each
respondent. The civil penalty shall not exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000) for an exclusively nonviolent first violation, and fifteen
thousand dollars ($15,000) for any other first violation, and shall
not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for an exclusively
nonviolent subsequent violation, and twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000) for any other subsequent violation. In imposing civil
penalties pursuant to this subdivision, the court shall consider a
prior violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances
Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 248), or a prior violation of a statute
of another jurisdiction that would constitute a violation of Section
423.2 or the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of
1994, to be a prior violation of Section 423.2.
   (c) No person shall be found liable under this section for conduct
in violation of Section 423.2 done on a particular occasion where
the identical conduct on that occasion was the basis for a finding of
liability by that person under the federal Freedom of Access to
Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 248).



423.5.  (a) (1) The court in which a criminal or civil proceeding is
filed for a violation of subdivision (a), (c), or (e) of Section
423.2 shall take all action reasonably required, including granting
restraining orders, to safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of
either of the following:
   (A) A reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant
who is a party or witness in the proceeding.
   (B) A person who is a victim of, or at risk of becoming a victim
of, conduct prohibited by subdivision (a), (c), or (e) of Section
423.2.
   (2) The court in which a criminal or civil proceeding is filed for
a violation of subdivision (b), (d), or (f) of Section 423.2 shall
take all action reasonably required, including granting restraining
orders, to safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of either of the
following:
   (A) A person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First
Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
   (B) An entity that owns or operates a place of religious worship.
   (b) Restraining orders issued pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) may include provisions prohibiting or restricting the
photographing of persons described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) when reasonably required to
safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of those persons.
Restraining orders issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a) may include provisions prohibiting or restricting the
photographing of persons described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) when reasonably required to
safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of those persons.
   (c) A court may, in its discretion, permit an individual described
in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) to
use a pseudonym in a civil proceeding described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) when reasonably required to safeguard the health,
safety, or privacy of those persons. A court may, in its discretion,
permit an individual described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) to use a pseudonym in a civil
proceeding described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) when
reasonably required to safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of
those persons.



423.6.  This title shall not be construed for any of the following
purposes:
   (a) To impair any constitutionally protected activity, or any
activity protected by the laws of California or of the United States
of America.
   (b) To provide exclusive civil or criminal remedies or to preempt
or to preclude any county, city, or city and county from passing any
law to provide a remedy for the commission of any of the acts
prohibited by this title or to make any of those acts a crime.
   (c) To interfere with the enforcement of any federal, state, or
local laws regulating the performance of abortions or the provision
of other reproductive health services.
   (d) To negate, supercede, or otherwise interfere with the
operation of any provision of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
1138) of Part 3 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.
   (e) To create additional civil or criminal remedies or to limit
any existing civil or criminal remedies to redress an activity that
interferes with the exercise of any other rights protected by the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution or of Article I of
the California Constitution.
   (f) To preclude prosecution under both this title and any other
provision of law, except as provided in subdivision (g) of Section
423.3.