Today's Law As Amended


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SB-821 Crimes: criminal threats.(2015-2016)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 422 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

422.
 (a) (1) Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime against another person or at a location or event that will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
(a) (2)  Any person who willfully  For purposes of this section, a person  threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which,  against another person if,  on its face and under the circumstances in which it  a threat  is made, the threat  is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family’s safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison. safety. 
(3) For purposes of this section, a person threatens to commit a crime at a location or event, whether a public or private location or event, if, on its face and under the circumstances in which a threat is made, the threat is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to a reasonable person perceiving the threat a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, such that the evacuation, lockdown, or closure of a location, or the cancellation, evacuation, lockdown, or closure of an event appears to be reasonably necessary for the protection of the public.
(b) For purposes of this section, “immediate family” means any spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior six months, regularly resided in the household.
(c) “Electronic communication device” includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular telephones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. “Electronic communication” has the same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
SEC. 2.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.