Chapter 7 - Of Crimes Against Religion and Conscience, and Other Offenses Against Good Morals

California Penal Code — §§ 302-310.5

Sections (14)

Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 401, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.

(a)Every person who intentionally disturbs or disquiets any assemblage of people met for religious worship at a tax-exempt place of worship, by profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior, or by any unnecessary noise, either within the place where the meeting is held, or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the meeting, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(b)A court may require performance of community service of not less than 50 hours and not exceeding 80 hours as an alternative to imprisonment or a fine.

(c)In addition to the penalty set forth in subdivision (a), a person who has suffered a previous conviction of a violation of this section or Section 403, shall be required to perform community service of not less than 120 hours and not exceeding 160 hours.

(d)The existence of any fact which would bring a person under subdivision (c) or (d) shall be alleged in the complaint, information, or indictment and either:

(1)Admitted by the defendant in open court.

(2)Found to be true by a jury trying the issue of guilt.

(3)Found to be true by the court where guilt is established by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.

(4)Found to be true by trial by the court sitting without a jury.

(e)Upon conviction of any person under this section for disturbances of religious worship, the court may, in accordance with the performance of community service imposed under this section, consistent with public safety interests and with the victim’s consent, order the defendant to perform a portion of, or all of, the required community service at the place where the disturbance of religious worship occurred.

(f)The court may waive the mandatory minimum requirements for community service whenever it is in the interest of justice to do so. When a waiver is granted, the court shall state on the record all reasons supporting the waiver.

§ 303

Added by Stats. 1935, Ch. 504.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages, other than in the original package, to employ upon the premises where the alcoholic beverages are sold any person for the purpose of procuring or encouraging the purchase or sale of such beverages, or to pay any person a percentage or commission on the sale of such beverages for procuring or encouraging such purchase or sale. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

§ 303a

Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 1591.

It shall be unlawful, in any place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold to be consumed upon the premises, for any person to loiter in or about said premises for the purpose of begging or soliciting any patron or customer of, or visitor in, such premises to purchase any alcoholic beverage for the one begging or soliciting. Violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.

§ 307

Amended by Stats. 1985, Ch. 934, Sec. 4.

Every person, firm, or corporation which sells or gives or in any way furnishes to another person, who is in fact under the age of 21 years, any candy, cake, cookie, or chewing gum which contains alcohol in excess of1/2of 1 percent by weight, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 308

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 371, Sec. 1. (AB 2021) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)(1) (A) (i) A person who knowingly or under circumstances in which it has knowledge, or should otherwise have grounds for knowledge, sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to another person who is under 21 years of age any tobacco, cigarette, cigarette papers, or blunt wraps, or any other preparation of tobacco, or any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco, tobacco products, or any controlled substance, is subject to either a criminal action for a misdemeanor or a civil action brought by a city attorney, a county counsel, or a district attorney, punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars ($200) for the first offense, five

hundred dollars ($500) for the second offense, and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the third offense.

(ii) A firm, corporation, business, retailer, or wholesaler that under the circumstances described in clause (i) sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to another person who is under 21 years of age a product specified in clause (i) is subject to either a criminal action for a misdemeanor or a civil action brought by a city attorney, a county counsel, or a district attorney, punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500) for the first offense,

one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the second offense, and five thousand dollars ($5,000) for any subsequent offense.

(iii) This subparagraph does not apply to the sale, giving, or furnishing of any of the products specified in clause (i) to active duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older. An identification card issued by the United States Armed Forces shall be used as proof of age for this purpose.

(B) Notwithstanding Section 1464 or any other law, 25 percent of each civil and criminal penalty collected pursuant to this subdivision

shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney, whoever is responsible for bringing the successful action.

(C) Proof that a defendant, or their employee or agent, demanded, was shown, and reasonably relied upon evidence of majority shall be a defense to any action brought pursuant to this subdivision. Evidence of majority of a person is a facsimile of, or a reasonable likeness of, a document issued by a federal, state, county, or municipal government, or subdivision or agency thereof, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle operator’s license, a registration certificate issued under the federal Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. Sec. 3801 et seq.), or an identification card issued to a

member of the Armed Forces.

(D) For purposes of this section, the person liable for selling or furnishing tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age by a tobacco vending machine shall be the person authorizing the installation or placement of the tobacco vending machine upon premises they manage or otherwise control and under circumstances in which they have knowledge, or should otherwise have grounds for knowledge, that the tobacco vending machine will be utilized by persons under 21 years of age.

(2)For purposes of this section, “blunt wraps” means cigar papers or cigar wrappers of all types that are designed for smoking or ingestion of tobacco products and contain less than 50 percent tobacco.

(b)A

person, firm, or corporation that sells, or deals in tobacco or any preparation of tobacco, shall post conspicuously and keep so posted in their place of business at each point of purchase the notice required pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 22952 of the Business and Professions Code, and a person failing to do so shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of fifty dollars ($50) for the first offense, one hundred dollars ($100) for the second offense, two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the third offense, and five hundred dollars ($500) for the fourth offense and each subsequent violation of this provision, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 30 days.

(c)For purposes of determining the liability of persons, firms, or corporations controlling franchises or business operations in multiple locations for the

second and subsequent violations of this section, each individual franchise or business location shall be deemed a separate entity.

(d)It is the Legislature’s intent to regulate the subject matter of this section. As a result, a city, county, or city and county shall not adopt any ordinance or regulation inconsistent with this section.

(e)For purposes of this section, “smoking” has the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 22950.5 of the Business and Professions Code.

(f)For purposes of this section, “tobacco products” means a product or device as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 22950.5 of the Business and Professions Code.

§ 308.1

Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 265, Sec. 5. (AB 2496) Effective January 1, 2011.

(a)Notwithstanding any other law, no person shall sell, offer for sale, distribute, or import any tobacco product commonly referred to as “bidis” or “beedies,” unless that tobacco product is sold, offered for sale, or intended to be sold in a business establishment that prohibits the presence of persons under 18 years of age on its premises.

(b)For purposes of this section, “bidis” or “beedies” means any of the following:

(1)A product containing tobacco that is wrapped in temburni leaf (diospyros melanoxylon) or tendu leaf (diospyros exculpra).

(2)A

product that is marketed and sold as “bidis” or “beedies.”

(c)Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and is also subject to a civil action brought by the Attorney General, a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney for an injunction and a civil penalty of up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per violation. This subdivision does not affect any other remedies available for a violation of this section.

§ 308.2

Added by Stats. 1991, Ch. 1231, Sec. 1.

(a)Every person who sells one or more cigarettes, other than in a sealed and properly labeled package, is guilty of an infraction.

(b)“A sealed and properly labeled package,” as used in this section, means the original packaging or sanitary wrapping of the manufacturer or importer which conforms to federal labeling requirements, including the federal warning label.

§ 308.3

Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 376, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.

(a)A person, firm, corporation, or business may not manufacture for sale, distribute, sell, or offer to sell any cigarette, except in a package containing at least 20 cigarettes. A person, firm, corporation, or business may not manufacture for sale, distribute, sell, or offer to sell any roll-your-own tobacco, except in a package containing at least 0.60 ounces of tobacco.

(b)As used in subdivision (a), “cigarette” means any product that contains nicotine, is intended to be burned or heated under ordinary conditions of use, and consists of, or contains any of, the following:

(1)Any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in any substance not containing tobacco.

(2)Tobacco, in any form, that is functional in the product, that, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette.

(3)Any roll of tobacco wrapped in any substance containing tobacco which, because of its appearance, the type of tobacco used in the filler, or its packaging and labeling, is likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as a cigarette described in this subdivision.

(c)Any person, firm, corporation, or business that violates this section is liable for an infraction, or in an action brought by the Attorney General, a district attorney, a county counsel, or a city attorney for a civil penalty of two hundred dollars ($200) for the first violation, five hundred dollars ($500) for the second violation, and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent act constituting a violation.

§ 308.5

Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 639, Sec. 2.

(a)No person or business shall sell, lease, rent, or provide, or offer to sell, lease, rent, or otherwise offer to the public or to public establishments in this state, any video game intended for either private use or for use in a public establishment and intended primarily for use by any person under the age of 18 years, which contains, in its design and in the on-screen presentation of the video game, any paid commercial advertisement of alcoholic beverage or tobacco product containers or other forms of consumer packaging, particular brand names, trademarks, or copyrighted slogans of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.

(b)As used in this section, “video game” means any electronic amusement device that utilizes a computer, microprocessor, or similar electronic circuitry and its own cathode ray tube, or is designed to be used with a television set or a monitor, that interacts with the user of the device.

(c)A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

§ 308b

Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 1005.

(a)Except as provided in subdivision (b), every person who knowingly delivers or causes to be delivered to any residence in this state any tobacco products unsolicited by any person residing therein is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b)It is a defense to a violation of this section that the recipient of the tobacco products is personally known to the defendant at the time of the delivery.

(c)The distribution of unsolicited tobacco products to residences in violation of this section is a nuisance within the meaning of Section 3479 of the Civil Code.

(d)Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose any liability on any employee of the United States Postal Service for actions performed in the scope of his employment by the United States Postal Service.

§ 309

Any proprietor, keeper, manager, conductor, or person having the control of any house of prostitution, or any house or room resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, who shall admit or keep any minor of either sex therein; or any parent or guardian of any such minor, who shall admit or keep such minor, or sanction, or connive at the admission or keeping thereof, into, or in any such house, or room, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 310

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 562, Sec. 1. (SB 425) Effective January 1, 2012.

(a)Any minor under 16 years of age who visits or attends any prizefight or place where any prizefight is advertised to take place, and any owner, lessee, or proprietor, or the agent of any owner, lessee, or proprietor of any place where any prizefight is advertised or represented to take place who admits any minor to a place where any prizefight is advertised or represented to take place or who admits, sells, or gives to any minor a ticket or other paper by which that minor may be admitted to a place where a prizefight is advertised to take place, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 25 days.

(b)Any minor under 16 years of age who visits or attends any cockfight or place where any cockfight is advertised to take place, and any owner, lessee, or proprietor, or the agent of any owner, lessee, or proprietor of any place where any cockfight is advertised or represented to take place who admits any minor to a place where any cockfight is advertised or represented to take place or who admits, sells, or gives to any minor a ticket or other paper by which that minor may be admitted to a place where a cockfight is advertised to take place, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 25 days.

§ 310.2

Added by Stats. 1987, Ch. 999, Sec. 1.

(a)Any coach, trainer, or other person acting in an official or nonofficial capacity as an adult supervisor for an athletic team consisting of minors under the age of 18 who sells, gives, or otherwise furnishes to any member of that team a diuretic, diet pill, or laxative with the intent that it be consumed, injected, or administered for any nonmedical purpose such as loss of weight or altering the body in any way related to participation on the team or league, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b)Subdivision (a) does not apply to a minor’s parent or guardian, or any person acting at the written direction of, or with the written consent of, the parent or guardian, if that person is in fact acting with that authority. Subdivision (a) does not apply to a physician.

§ 310.5

Added by Stats. 1994, 1st Ex. Sess., Ch. 54, Sec. 2. Effective November 30, 1994.

(a)Any parent or guardian of a child who enters into an agreement on behalf of that child which is in violation of Section 1669.5 of the Civil Code, and any alleged perpetrator of an unlawful sex act upon that child who enters into such an agreement, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b)Every person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 30 days nor more than six months, or by both such a fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

(c)For purposes of this section, “unlawful sex act,” means a felony sex offense committed against a minor.