A federal judge ruled a California law enacting a 30-foot buffer zone around COVID-19 vaccination sites to be too restrictive, The California Globe reported Nov. 2.
The law, which made harassment at vaccination sites a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail, went into effect Oct. 8 and was immediately criticized for free speech concerns.
The 30-foot buffer is to be removed due to the broad use of "harassing" in the legislation, ruled Judge Dale Drozd, but the law will be kept in place to protect individuals going into vaccination sites.
"Those other portions of the law appear to more precisely target the harms that the Legislature sought to prevent and further the state’s interest in ensuring that Californians can freely access vaccination sites," Mr. Drozd said. "The law’s definition of harassing is far broader than the dictionary definition of the word ‘harass’. The state attorney general’s interpretation of the law, in court filings and oral arguments, is so vague that it is conducive to different and conflicting interpretations on what conduct is even prohibited by its terms.”