There was a time when no one worried about what would happen if they videotaped someone. Prior to cell phone cameras, it was nearly impossible for the average person to videotape someone without the person being taped knowing about it. Now that everyone has a video camera on their cell phone, many people have accidentally broken California’s laws regarding videotaping people without their consent.

Cell phone cameras made it possible to videotape people without that person’s consent. Social media makes it possible for us to share these tapes. The combination has created legal problems for many people.

According to the current laws, you are allowed to record a video of people without their consent, but only if you don’t pick up any bits of their conversation...

The problem with California’s “Peeping Tom” laws is that they aren’t written as clearly as they should be. There is a great deal of room for interpretation which makes the case difficult for both sides to prove.

Peeping Tom laws are covered in California Penal Code Section 647(i) PC. The code states that a peeping Tom is anyone who;

(i) Who, while loitering, prowling, or wandering upon the private property of another, at any time, peeks in the door or window of any inhabited building or structure, without visible or lawful business with the owner or occupant.

(j) (1) A person who looks through a hole or opening, into, or otherwise views, by means of any instrumentality, including, but not limited to, a periscope, telescope, binoculars, camera, motion picture camera, camcorder, m...

We’ve all done it. Gotten behind the wheel and driven when we were tired. Most of the time rolling down the window, cranking up the radio, and indulging in a massive amount of caffeine is enough to get us safely where we need to be. The problem is that some people don’t make it to their destination. Some people fall asleep while they’re behind the wheel and find themselves in serious legal trouble.

The Dangers of Falling Asleep While Driving

People constantly warn us about driving while intoxicated. We know it’s dangerous and know that it’s a serious traffic offense. People rarely discuss the fact that driving while fatigued is equally dangerous. In most cases driving is monotonous. It’s so easy to let your eyes close for a second...

Vandalism is often an act of passion. Most of us are angry or hurt. We want to strike back at the person we believe treated us badly. We might choose to do this by smashing their mailbox, spray painting a crude message on the side of their house, or slashing their tires.

Normally, we feel better about the vandalism… until the police knock on our door.

The problem with vandalism is that the victim almost always has a pretty good idea of who was responsible. If they’ve recently argued with, broken up with, or aggravated someone they usually tell the police about the incident. The personal nature of the crime means that you’re likely to get caught.

What California Considers Vandalism

You might think that smashing someone’s mailbox is an act of just revenge. The state disagrees...

I
t is incredibly difficult to find affordable housing in California. The average price of a home in California is $600,000 which is double the national average.

There are several reasons for the housing crisis, including:

✦ The number of homes/apartment buildings that have been destroyed by wildfires in recent years
✦ High construction costs
✦ A discrepancy between the average wage and the average cost of a home
✦ Not enough construction companies/workers
✦ Lack of housing subsidies

The situation is so bad that some California residents who make middle wage or lower report that they have spent 3-5 years trying to find an apartment.

The Role Housing Discrimination Plays in California

In an attempt to keep a roof over as many heads as possible, California lawmakers have passed housing di...

C
amping is wonderful. Camping provides you with the means to connect to the earth and nature while also bonding with family and friends. The best thing about camping is all the great memories you collect during each camping trip.

The next time you’re about to hit the woods for an epic camping trip, keep these unwritten camping rules in mind.

Leave Your Site Better than you Found It

It doesn’t matter if you’re a slob at home when you’re camping, you need to turn into a neat freak. Commit yourself to keeping each place you pitch your camp cleaner than when you found it. Not only does this ensure that the next set of campers who come along will also have a nice place to set up camp, but it also proves that you are environmentally aware.

Keeping the campsites cleaner than how you f...

Covid-19 has brought about many changes. One of the newest additions to our lives is the wearing of face masks while in public.

Why are Face Masks Required in California

The hope is that wearing masks will slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The idea is that the masks keep the droplets contained to a single person. California lawmakers are urging residents to wear a mask whenever they’re shopping. The problem is that there is conflicting information regarding the effectiveness of face masks. The result of the conflict is that while some people happily don a mask each time they go out, others refuse to wear them.
The debate over wearing facemasks has led many people to wonder if the police will issue citations to those who don’t wear a mask while shopping.
When are Face Masks Req...

All parents know that infants should be contained in a car seat, however not all parents know what California’s laws are regarding car seats.

Infants and Car Seats

Any child that is two or under must be confined to a rear-facing car seat while they are in a vehicle. Failing to have your child properly secured in a car seat will result in a $500 fine and a point getting added to your driving record. Don’t assume that just because your child has passed their second birthday that it’s time to change their car seat. The law also states that the child needs to be at least 40 inches tall and or weigh at least 40 pounds before they graduate to a different type of car seat.

Car Seat for Children who are Between the Ages of 2 and 8

If your child has already celebrated their second birthday...

No one likes to be scared, and making threats against someone is a sure fire way to scare them. It doesn’t really matter if the person making the threat ever intended to actually carry out the threat as long as the victim believed him or her. The person being threatened may not know that the threat is a joke, or just a scare tactic, and so they get scared.

Making threats, fake or not, is a great way to cause trouble, which is why it is a crime here in California to make criminal threats. Despite this, there seems to have been a bit of a rise in criminal threats over the last few years. To make matters worse, many of these threats have been aimed toward schools.

California Penal Code 422

Here in the state of California, the act of making a criminal threat is defined and made illegal u...

Gun control is a very hot topic here in the United States, especially whenever a tragedy strikes. When these tragedies occur, everyone begins to reexamine the laws in the area to try and figure out if something could have been done to prevent it from ever occurring.

Here in the California, residents face some of the strictest gun control laws in the entire nation. The idea is to keep guns out of the hands of people who would hurt others with the firearms while still allowing law abiding citizens to possess them.

California’s Gun-Related Laws

The state of California literally has dozens of laws surrounding the topic of gun use and ownership. In order to own a gun, a person has to be over the age of 21, pass a background check, not have any certain prior convictions or felonies, and b...