{"id":47181,"date":"2025-11-10T22:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T22:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/47181\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T22:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T22:47:09","slug":"sb-19-signed-into-law-closing-legal-loopholes-in-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/47181\/","title":{"rendered":"SB 19 signed into law, closing legal loopholes in threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gavin<\/a>Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order. (File photo courtesy of the governor\u2019s office)<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that advocates say help close dangerous legal loopholes that previously left communities vulnerable to violent targeting and threats. <\/p>\n

Senate Bill 19<\/a>, advanced by Assm. Darshana Patel<\/a> of San Diego and Sen. Susan Rubio<\/a> of Baldwin Park, both Democrats, allows prosecutors to take action on credible threats of violence against schools and places of worship without having to prove danger to specific individuals connected to those institutions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Shoal Creek Elementary School<\/a> in my district received hundreds of threats, parents were terrified, kids were afraid to go to school, and educators were frightened to teach,\u201d said Patel in a statement. \u201cOur community was frozen in fear, but our laws couldn\u2019t protect them because threats were only considered a crime when a specific individual was named and in sustained fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that the loophole left entire communities vulnerable and let perpetrators walk free. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill responds to real-world incidents where threats of mass shootings or bombings were dismissed or uncharged because they targeted schools or faith communities broadly,\u201d said an explainer<\/a> on Sen. Rubio\u2019s official page. \u201cIt ensures prosecutors and law enforcement have the tools they need to act before violence occurs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Under previous law, prosecutors had to prove an individual victim was in sustained fear, preventing holding perpetrators accountable for threats against institutions such as schools, medical facilities, and places of worship, even when people are inside. <\/p>\n

The measure establishes that threats against the institutions themselves are illegal and prosecutable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new law closes a dangerous loophole that allowed people to post violent threats targeting schools, places of worship, and other public spaces without consequence,\u201d said San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy explicitly making these threats criminal, we can better protect our communities, hold individuals accountable for reckless and harmful online behavior, and prevent acts of mass violence before they happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order. (File photo courtesy of the governor\u2019s office) Gov. Gavin Newsom has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[30850,74,76,75,30851,30852,30853],"class_list":{"0":"post-47181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-darshana-patel","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news","12":"tag-sb-19","13":"tag-susan-rubio","14":"tag-threats"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}