California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill yesterday to prevent paparazzi harassment of celebrity children. Senate Bill 606 has been of dire interest to actresses including Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner, both of whom lobbied for the law to pass.
According to E! Online, photogs convited of harassing a minor based on their parent’s profession can face up to a year in prison. The prior maximum sentence for such charges was six months. A first time violation can cost $10,000, a second costing $20,000 and a third at $30,000.
Berry has been one Hollywood mother who has not taken kindly to persistent paps in the presence of her daughter Nahlia. According the CBS News, the pregnant star appeared in Sacramento for the first time in June and again on Tuesday to discuss the paparazzi’s effect on her 5-year-old. Garner also expressed her concern last month and got choked up in the process while discussing the harassment her three children face daily. She explained that while she chose a career that requires a “public life,” her children with Ben Affleck are “private citizens.”
In light of the new law, Berry has been extremely gracious, thanking her legal team and fellow mothers in the industry, like Adele. "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 said Tuesday.
Senator Kevin DeLeón said in a statement, "Kids shouldn't be tabloid fodder nor the target of ongoing harassment. SB 606 will give children, no matter who their parents are, protection from harassers who go to extremes to turn a buck."