Penal Code 372 and 373a PC - Public Nuisance
Public nuisance laws are designed to maintain mutual peace and well-being within a neighborhood. Anyone who engages in conduct that disrupts the peace in a community, even when it's not explicitly defined as a crime, can be charged with creating or maintaining a public nuisance.
In California, a public nuisance injures someone's health, offends somebody, prevents the unrestricted use of property, or interferes with a community's enjoyment of life or property.
California Penal Code 372 PC is the law that prohibits somebody from creating or maintaining a public nuisance; a violation of this misdemeanor crime can result in up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
Related Penal Code 373a PC places a significant responsibility on property owners, prohibiting them from maintaining, permitting, or allowing a public nuisance on their property. This is especially important after they receive written notice from a health officer or city lawyer that the nuisance must be resolved.
A typical example is the neighbor's dog that excessively barks all day or night, and the owner seems not to care that it might disturb their neighbors. It can also include operating a loud kennel in a neighborhood.
Another example is a rundown home full of trash or a hoarder who attracts roaches and rodents. It can also include a property owner who does not keep up with lawn maintenance, creating a fire hazard. Other examples of a public nuisance include operating a drug or prostitution house, collecting unsightly trash, and running a loud mechanic's garage or chop shop outside the home.
To convict you, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you maintained or effectuated any public nuisance or willfully failed to perform any legal duty to remove a public nuisance.
What is a Public Nuisance?
A "public nuisance" in California injures someone's health, offends somebody, prevents the free use of property, and interferes with a community's enjoyment of life or property. A "community" refers to an actual community, neighborhood, or a significant amount of people.
Simply put, a public nuisance is anything harmful to health, offensive, or an obstruction to the use of property that interferes with the enjoyment of life by an entire community or neighborhood. However, the annoyance or damage inflicted on someone is often unequal, as defined by Civil Code 3480.
A public nuisance is a broad term covering many types of activity that can negatively affect public rights or interests. The crucial element is the substantial and unreasonable interference with the common rights of public citizens. Some examples include the following:
- Excessive noise and loud music disrupt the peace of a neighborhood.
- A neighborhood dog that barks excessively.
- Animals that regularly escape and cause harm or distress to others.
- Intentionally blocking public roads or pathways.
- Anything that causes an inconvenience to the public.
- Discharging harmful substances into air, water, or soil that are dangerous to public health, such as a tire factory emitting toxic fumes.
- Neglecting property maintenance, causing hazardous conditions.
- Poor building conditions in danger of collapse.
What are the Public Nuisance Laws?
Creating or maintaining a public nuisance in California is typically charged under Penal Code 372 PC or 373a PC, but others may apply. There are several laws related to public nuisance, as discussed below.
Penal Code 370 PC says, "Anything which is injurious to health, or is indecent, or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood, or by any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, is a public nuisance."
Penal Code 371 PC says, "An act which affects an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, as specified in the last section, is no less a nuisance because the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals is unequal."
Creating or Maintaining a Public Nuisance
Penal Code 372 PC makes it a crime to maintain or commit a public nuisance for which the punishment is not otherwise prescribed or to neglect any legal duty of its removal willfully. To convict, a prosecutor must prove the following:
- You maintained or created a public nuisance that negatively affected the community or a significant group of people or
- A public nuisance occurred under your control, and you failed to perform your legal duty to remove it.
PC 372 PC says, "Every person who maintains or commits any public nuisance, the punishment for which is not otherwise prescribed, or who willfully omits to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a public nuisance, is guilty of a misdemeanor."
Maintain, Permit, or Allow a Public Nuisance
Penal Code 373a PC expands the blame for a public nuisance to somebody who allows a public nuisance to exist on their property or premises or somebody who occupies or leases property and permits such a nuisance to persist after being notified by public officials to remove it.
For instance, landlords who allow tenants to create a public nuisance can be charged with a crime if they are notified to deal with it and fail to do so. To convict, a prosecutor must prove the following:
- A public nuisance existed on your property or premises or
- A property that you occupy or lease,
- A government official notified you to remove it, and
- You failed to act within the provided period.
It must be a constant or regularly occurring event to be considered a public nuisance. One-time events are generally not charged under public nuisance laws.
For example, playing music too loudly on one occasion is generally not considered a public nuisance, but playing nightly would apply.
Penal Code 373a PC says, "Each person who maintains, permits, or allows a public nuisance to exist upon their property or premises, and each person occupying or leasing the property or premises of another who maintains, permits, or allows a public nuisance to exist on the property, after reasonable notice in writing from a health officer, district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor to remove, discontinue, or abate the public nuisance has been served upon the person, is guilty of a misdemeanor."
The existence of a public nuisance every day after the service of the notice is a separate and distinct offense. It is the duty of the district attorney of any city, the charter of which imposes the duty upon the city prosecutor to prosecute state misdemeanors, to continuously prosecute all persons guilty of violating this section until the nuisance is abated and removed."
Related California Civil Code 3480 says, "A public nuisance affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal."
What Are Related Crimes?
Several California laws are related to creating or maintaining public nuisance laws, including the following:
- Penal Code 415 PC - Disturbing the peace. This law includes disturbing people with loud music, fighting, or using offensive words in public.
- Penal Code 602 PC - Trespassing. This law prohibits someone from entering or remaining on someone else's property without permission.
- Penal Code 408 PC - Unlawful assembly. This law is violated when two or more people assemble to do something illegally or violently.
- Penal Code 374.3 PC - Illegal dumping. This law makes it a crime to dispose of garbage, waste, etc., on public or private property.
What Are the Penalties and Defenses?
Penal Code 372 PC and Penal Code 373a PC creating or maintaining a public nuisance are misdemeanors that carry the following penalties if convicted:
- Up to $1000 in fines and
- Up to 6 months in county jail.
A California criminal defense attorney can raise several defenses when faced with these charges, such as the following:
- Perhaps we can argue that the offense was a one-time occurrence and does not qualify as a public nuisance.
- Perhaps we can argue temporary or necessary nuisance. Maybe it was for emergency repairs and was necessary.
- Perhaps we can argue that there was minimal impact on the public. Maybe the activity did not affect the entire community or many people.
- Perhaps the nuisance didn't interfere with public rights or cause significant harm, and we can say it did not constitute a public nuisance.
Contact our law firm for more information. Cron, Israels & Stark is located in Los Angeles, CA.
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