California passed a new bill Tuesday that will enforce paparazzi regulations in the state, prohibiting the photographers to snap pictures of celebrities with their children without consent.
According to ContactMusic.com, California Senator Kevin de León passed the SB606 Bill just days after Jennifer Garner taught a photographer a lesson after he shot photos of her children. Garner and Halle Berry have worked hard to ensure the legislation's success.
E! News reports that Berry stated, "on behalf of my children, it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end for those overly aggressive paparazzi whose outrageous conduct has caused so much trauma and emotional distress,"
Berry also thanked Garner and other celebrities that aided in the support for the bill. "I am forever in awe of the support I got within my community from the enormously talented musician Adele to fellow actor Jennifer Garner who traveled with me to Sacramento to share her children's stories, experience and her desire to give them a better life," she said.
Under the new law, paparazzi that do take photos of a celebrity's children are susceptible to stricter punishment. Those who break the law, which will be active in January, will face up to a year of jail time and a fine of up to $10,000, which would increase for repeat offenders.
Furthermore, de León redefined the term harassment to include "conduct in the course of the actual or attempted recording of children's images and/or voices, without express parental consent, by following their activities or lying in wait."
"Kids shouldn't be tabloid fodder nor the target of ongoing harassment," said de León, who hopes that the bill will not only protect celebrity children, but also the children of law enforcement officials and other children who receive harrassment from paparazzi because of their parents' professions. "SB 606 will give children, no matter who their parents are, protection from harassers who go to extremes to turn a buck."
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
