Redwood City Municipal Code Art. II Protection Against Impeding Access to Health Care Facilities

The Council of Redwood City finds and declares that: access to health care facilities is critical and uniquely important to the public health, welfare and safety; persons desiring or needing access to such services should not be hampered, impeded, harassed or intimidated from obtaining those services; conditions have arisen in this City where persons attempting to obtain access to, or depart from, health care facilities have been particularly subject to harassing or intimidating activity tending to hamper or impede their access to, or departure from, such facilities by persons who approach them at extremely close proximity and shout or wave objects at them; such activity cannot reasonably be avoided by the victims of such harassment without the protection afforded by regulation of the proximity to them of persons conducting such harassing or intimidating activities; adverse physiological and emotional effects are created by such harassing and intimidating activities; such activities undermine a person's right to privacy and interfere with a person's right to seek and obtain legitimate medical advice and treatment; such conditions require the enactment of reasonable time, place and manner restrictions upon the legitimate activities of persons who desire to convey messages or information to persons seeking access to health care facilities; this Article is a necessary time, place and manner restriction intended to reconcile, balance and protect rights of expression, rights of privacy and the right to conduct legitimate economic enterprises; nothing herein contained is intended to preclude protesting, picketing, demonstrating, leafleting or counseling activities in the vicinity of a health care facility, but this Article is intended to preclude those activities which tend to harass, intimidate or intrude upon the right of access of persons to health care facilities.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)

For the purposes of this Article, the following terms are defined as herein set forth:

ACCESS AREA: Any portion of a public street or other public place or any place open to the public within one hundred feet (100′) of an exterior wall of a health care facility.

DEMONSTRATION ACTIVITY: All expressive and symbolic conduct, whether active or passive, which shall include, but not be limited to, protesting, picketing, distributing literature, and engaging in oral or silent protest, education or counseling activities.

HEALTH CARE FACILITY: Any medical or health facility, hospital or clinic within the City which is licensed under State law or any building, office or other place within the City regularly used by any health care provider licensed under State law to provide medical, nursing or health care or advice to patients.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)

A. Any person who, in the course of demonstration activity within the access area of a health care facility, acting alone or in concert with others, impedes or hampers the free access to or departure from any health care facility by failing to withdraw immediately to a distance of at least eight feet (8′) away from any person who has requested such withdrawal is guilty of an infraction.

B. For purposes of this Section, withdrawal may be requested by a person verbally, or by carrying or wearing a visible sign clearly indicating such withdrawal request. Statements by a person, or signs carried or worn by a person displaying words or symbols such as, or similar in effect to, "stop", "stop it", "withdraw", "back off", "get away" or "leave me alone" shall be sufficient to constitute a request to withdraw under this Section. Failure to comply immediately with any such request shall constitute a violation of this Section. Mere statements of opinion or disagreements made in the absence of a request to withdraw shall not be construed to be a request to withdraw under this Section.

C. Distance under this Section shall be measured from that part of the closest demonstrator's body that is nearest to the closest part of the requesting person's body. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term "body" shall include any natural or artificial extension thereof, including, but not limited to, an outstretched arm or a handheld sign.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)

The penalty for violation of Section 17.12 shall be as set forth in Section 1.7B of this Code.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)

A. Any person who is seeking or intends to seek access to a health care facility and is aggrieved by an act prohibited in Section 17.12 may bring an action for damages, injunctive and/or declaratory relief, as appropriate, in a court of competent jurisdiction against any person who has violated, has conspired to violate, or proposes to violate its provisions.

B. Any person who prevails in such an action shall be entitled to recover from the violator such damages, costs, attorneys fees and such other relief as determined by the court. In addition to all other damages, the court may award to the aggrieved person a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each violation.

C. The remedies provided by this Section are in addition to any other legal or equitable remedies the aggrieved person may have and are not intended to be exclusive.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)

If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Article is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Article.

(Ord. No. 2061, § 3, 6-14-93)