Paparazzi Bill May Help Make School Zones Safer

In what could be the harshest moves against paparazzi to date, the state Assembly passed a bill Aug. 31 that would impose fines of as much as $5,000 and the possibility of jail time for photographers who drive recklessly and endanger the lives of celebrities and the general public.

The bill, AB 2479, was authored by Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), and passed by a margin of 43-13. The bill passed on the same day that Princess Diana was killed 13 years earlier in a Paris car crash while fleeing the paparazzi.

Gov. Schwarzenegger would need to sign AB 2479 for it to become law. 

This bill is being especially welcomed in Calabasas, home to quite a few celebrities.

"This new law is needed and very welcome, and it should help a lot because it will reduce the profitability of reckless behavior," said Calabasas Mayor Barry Groveman.

He said that he has received several calls from people horrified at the reckless driving of paparazzi pursuing celebrity parents as they pick up or drop their children at school.

"In our community we have made it a priority to deal with reckless and drunk driving, and it struck me as very disturbing that we did not have enough power to be able to address this," he said. "But with this law there is a lot of promise because the penalties associated will deter reckless behavior."

Although existing law sets fines of $5,000 to $50,000 for those who "commit an assault with the intent to capture any type of visual image, or sound recording," this bill would expand these provisions to include paparazzi who swarm around celebrities and block sidewalks, creating a sense of "false imprisonment."

Moreover, the bill would make reckless driving punishable by imprisonment in a county jail and a fine of $2,500. If a minor is "placed in a situation in which his or her person or health is endangered," AB 2479 would provide for "imprisonment for up to a year and a fine of up to $5,000."

The issue is particularly serious near school zones, where innocent lives could be at stake, said Las Virgenes Unified Superintendent Donald Zimring.

"We've certainly had situations around Bay Laurel Elementary School and Calabasas High School where the paparazzi have proved to be a challenge, and at times really disruptive to the school day," he said.

He remembered an occasion when school authorities found paparazzi camping on the roof of a school, with sleeping bags, televisions, radios and refrigerators.

"That crosses the line of freedom of the press and goes to trespassing and is a potential danger to our kids," said Zimring, adding that the new law would make sure "we see greater respect for the school property, and greater ability for children to ingress and egress the school." 

Groveman said he didn't think there would be extra costs involved in implementing the bill if it became law.

"It will just add tools to the resources we already have. Even if it does cost a little, it will be worth the money, to protect the public from such dangerous risks," he said. "It is an important tool whose time has come because the acts of recklessness have grown to a very unacceptable level."