California Penal Code § 415.5. PC prohibits disturbing the peace on school and college campus grounds. Disturbing the peace at a school is prosecuted as a misdemeanor, carrying up to $1,000 in fines and/or up to six months in jail depending on the defendant’s criminal history.
The text of the statute reads as follows:
415.5. (a) Any person who (1) unlawfully fights within any building or upon the grounds of any school, community college, university, or state university or challenges another person within any building or upon the grounds to fight, or (2) maliciously and willfully disturbs another person within any of these buildings or upon the grounds by loud and unreasonable noise, or (3) uses offensive words within any of these buildings or upon the grounds which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, or both.
(b) If the defendant has been previously convicted once of a violation of this section or of any offense defined in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 626) of Title 15 of Part 1, the defendant shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than 10 days or more than six months, or by both that imprisonment and a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), and shall not be released on probation, parole, or any other basis until not less than 10 days of imprisonment has been served.
(c) If the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of a violation of this section or of any offense defined in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 626) of Title 15 of Part 1, the defendant shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than 90 days or more than six months, or by both that imprisonment and a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), and shall not be released on probation, parole, or any other basis until not less than 90 days of imprisonment has been served.
(d) For the purpose of determining the penalty to be imposed pursuant to this section, the court may consider a written report from the Department of Justice containing information from its records showing prior convictions; and the communication is prima facie evidence of such convictions, if the defendant admits them, regardless of whether or not the complaint commencing the proceedings has alleged prior convictions.
(e) As used in this section “state university,” “university,” “community college,” and “school” have the same meaning as these terms are given in Section 626.
(f) This section shall not apply to any person who is a registered student of the school, or to any person who is engaged in any otherwise lawful employee concerted activity.
Legal Analysis
California Penal Code 415.5. PC makes it a misdemeanor to do any of the following on school or university/college grounds:
- unlawfully fighting with someone;
- unlawfully challenging another person to a fight;
- maliciously and willfully disturbing another person by loud and unreasonable noise; and/or
- using offensive words that are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
Example: Peggy is a student at USC. Peggy gets into an argument with her roommate in their dorm room and kicks her in the shin.
Peggy could face PC 415.5 charges for unlawfully fighting with someone on college grounds.
The penalties for disturbing the peace on school grounds turn on whether the defendant has prior convictions of violating PC 415.5 (or any crime listed under California Penal Code Part 1, Title 15, Chapter 1).
| PC 415.5 crime | California misdemeanor sentence |
| 1st offense |
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| 2nd offense |
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| 3rd or subsequent offense |
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It is a California misdemeanor to violate PC 415.5.
Legal References
- California Penal Code 415.5. PC – Offenses committed in buildings or on grounds of school, community college, university, or state university; Punishment. See, for example, Grayned v. City of Rockford (1972), 408 U.S. 104, 33 L. Ed. 2d 222; In re J.G. (Cal. App. 2d Dist. Apr. 4, 2019) 33 Cal. App. 5th 1084.