Brown Signs Law Banning Student Harassment

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill making it a misdemeanor to disrupt students as they enter or leave school.

The governor said Wednesday he had signed AB123 by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Artesia. The new law gives school administrators and law enforcement officials more ways to protect students.

Mendoza wrote the bill after an appeals court determined that an anti-abortion group had the right to display large photographs of aborted fetuses during a 2003 demonstration outside a California middle school.

According to the author, some students became angry while others began to cry.

The law makes it clear that anyone who disturbs children near a preschool, elementary school or middle school can face a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of $500.

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