[Cagdu] Penal Code sections

[Shannon Dillon]

Hi everyone,
Below are the Penal Code sections, first summarized, then in full,
that I just referenced on the chat.

In short, Penal Code section 365.5 gives us the right to use our guide
dogs in public transportation and facilities, medical facilities,
places of public accommodations, etc. It makes it a misdemeanor to
itnerfere with our right to use the guide dog in the listed places.


Penal Code ssection 365.6 makes it a misdemeanor to intensionally
interfere with the use of a guide dog.

Penal Code Section 365.7 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly and
fraudulently misrepresent himself as the owner or trainer of any
guide, signal or service dog as defined.

Here are the full versions of each of the above Penal Code sections.

Penal Code Section 365.5
(a) Any blind person, deaf person, or disabled person, who is a
passenger on any common carrier, airplane, motor vehicle, railway
train, motorbus, streetcar, boat, or any other public conveyance or
mode of transportation operating within this state, shall be entitled
to have with him or her a specially trained guide dog, signal dog, or
service dog.


(b) No blind person, deaf person, or disabled person and his or her
specially trained guide dog, signal dog, or service dog shall be
denied admittance to accommodations, advantages, facilities, medical
facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices,
telephone facilities, adoption agencies, private schools, hotels,
lodging places, places of public accommodation, amusement, or resort,
and other places to which the general public is invited within this
state because of that guide dog, signal dog, or service dog.


(c) Any person, firm, association, or corporation, or the agent of any
person, firm, association, or corporation, who prevents a disabled
person from exercising, or interferes with a disabled person in the
exercise of, the rights specified in this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500).


(d) As used in this section, “guide dog” means any guide dog or Seeing
Eye dog that was trained by a person licensed under Chapter 9.5
(commencing with Section 7200) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code or that meets the definitional criteria under federal
regulations adopted to implement Title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336).1


(e) As used in this section, “signal dog” means any dog trained to
alert a deaf person, or a person whose hearing is impaired, to
intruders or sounds.


(f) As used in this section, “service dog” means any dog individually
trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual
with a disability, including, but not limited to, minimal protection
work, rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.


(g)(1) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any civil
remedies available for a violation of this section.


(2) This section is intended to provide equal accessibility for all
owners or trainers of animals that are trained as guide dogs, signal
dogs, or service dogs in a manner that is no less than that provided
by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336)
and the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-435).2


(h) The exercise of rights specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) by
any person may not be conditioned upon payment of any extra charge,
provided that the person shall be liable for any provable damage done
to the premises or facilities by his or her dog.


(i) Any trainer or individual with a disability may take dogs in any
of the places specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) for the purpose of
training the dogs as guide dogs, signal dogs, or service dogs. The
person shall ensure that the dog is on a leash and tagged as a guide
dog, signal dog, or service dog by an identification tag issued by the
county clerk or animal control department as authorized by Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 30850) of Division 14 of the Food and
Agricultural Code. In addition, the person shall be liable for any
provable damage done to the premises or facilities by his or her dog.




Penal Code Section 365.6
(a) Any person who, with no legal justification, intentionally
interferes with the use of a guide, signal, or service dog or mobility
aid by harassing or obstructing the guide, signal, or service dog or
mobility aid user or his or her guide, signal, or service dog, is
guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding six months, or by a fine of not less than one thousand
five hundred dollars ($1,500) nor more than two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500), or both that fine and imprisonment.


(b) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:


(1) “Mobility aid” means any device enabling a person with a
disability, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 54 of the Civil
Code, to travel independently, including, but not limited to, a guide,
signal, or service dog, as defined in Section 54.1 of the Civil Code,
a wheelchair, walker or white cane.


(2) “Guide, signal, or service dog” means any dog trained to do work
or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability,
including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired
vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or
sounds, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.


(c) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any civil remedies
available for a violation of this section.

(a) Any person who knowingly and fraudulently represents himself or
herself, through verbal or written notice, to be the owner or trainer
of any canine licensed as, to be qualified as, or identified as, a
guide, signal, or service dog, as defined in subdivisions (d), (e),
and (f) of Section 365.5 and paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of
Section 54.1 of the Civil Code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six
months, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by
both that fine and imprisonment.


(b) As used in this section, “owner” means any person who owns a
guide, signal, or service dog, or who is authorized by the owner to
use the guide, signal, or service dog.
-- 
SHANNON L. DILLON
Legislative Coordinator and
President of the California Association of Guide Dog Users,
A Division of the National Federation of the Blind of California

Find your local chapter at www.nfbcal.org