California city aims to fight bullying by criminalizing it

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

California city aims to fight bullying by criminalizing it
Alex Dobuzinskis
Reuters
10:24 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2014

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A southern California city aims to fight back at bullies by making it a crime to pick on others, in a measure that would protect not only school children but anyone up to age 25 who is targeted for harassment.

City leaders in Carson, a suburb of Los Angeles, are poised to become among the first municipalities in the nation to make bullying a crime by treating it as an infraction or a misdemeanor, which are offenses less serious than a felony.

Carson Mayor Jim Dear said he expects the measure could be challenged in court but said he supports it.

"We're not talking about putting a 5-year-old in jail, we're talking about intervening in both the bully's life, who is a person who is hurting too, and the victim's life," Dear said.

The Carson city council voted 5-0 on Tuesday to move forward with the anti-bullying ordinance, which needs to come back for a final vote on May 20. The text of the measure says it is modeled on a similar ordinance in Monona, Wisconsin.

Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-rt-us-hold-usa-bullying-california-20140507,0,5694691.story

[Alkene]

1. Raise the age limit from 25 to unlimited, and include the workplace. n/t

[steve2470]

2. Intentional infliction of emotional distress

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_infliction_of_emotional_distress

Same thing, more or less, already covered in the civil law.

[saules0gaisma]

3. you realize...

this will loose to a free speech law suit

[freebrew]

4. Laws like this will be turned around...

to favor the bullies and punish the victim. The local school has such policies as all school's should. (I know this isn't just for school's). The bullies seem to be those kids whose parents have enough clout to stymie any punishment for such activity, while the poor kid, bully or victim, gets the shaft.