Cal. Codes » Penal Code / PART 1. OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS / TITLE 11. OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC PEACE
California Codes

Cal. Penal Code § 403 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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Every person who, without authority of law, willfully disturbs or breaks up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character, other than an assembly or meeting referred to in Section 302 of the Penal Code or Section 18340 of the Elections Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11 cases, 1970–2020 · leading case: Cpr for Skid Row v. City of Los Angeles, 779 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2015).
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Cpr for Skid Row v. City of Los Angeles, 779 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2015). · cites it 29× “Plaintiffs challenged California Penal Code § 403, which makes it a misdemeanor to “willfully disturb[] or break[] up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character, other than an assembly or meeting referred to in .”
Dempsey v. People, 117 P.3d 800 (Colo. 2005). “” Cal.Penal Code § 403 (West 2005) (proscribes “disrupting a public assembly or meeting”).”
Kopp v. Fair Political Practices Comm'n, 905 P.2d 1248 (Cal. 1995). · cites it 2× “(Pen. Code, § 403.) We found the term overbroad because it would criminalize protected speech under the First Amendment, and in order to preserve the statute, we construed it "to require the following showing to establish its transgression: that the defendant substantially…”
Ribakoff v. City of Long Beach, 238 Cal. Rptr. 3d 81 (Cal. Ct. App. 5th 2018). “" In Kay , our Supreme Court was asked to consider the First Amendment implications of Penal Code section 403, which had been the basis for the arrest of several persons who had made a disturbance during an Independence Day speech to a public gathering of approximately 6,000…”
McMahon v. Albany Unified Sch. Dist., 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 58 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “) The Kay court noted that, with a single, irrelevant exception, Penal Code section 403 had not been interpreted since its passage almost a century earlier.”
State v. Hensel, 901 N.W.2d 166 (Minn. 2017). “2d at 146 (quoting Cal. Penal Code § 403 (West 1970)) (internal quotation marks omitted).”
Castro v. Superior Court, 9 Cal. App. 3d 675 (Cal. Ct. App. 1970). · cites it 2× “The court was careful to restrict its holding to (1) the facts established in a full trial which resulted in conviction and sentence; and (2) the instruction given by the trial court.”
Morehead v. State, 746 S.W.2d 830 (Tex. App. 1988). “…disturbs or breaks up any assembly or *836 meeting not unlawful in is character, ... is guilty of a misdemeanor.” CAL.PENAL CODE § 403 (West 1985).”
Petitioner: Matthew Charles DEMPSEY v. Respondent: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado., 117 P.3d 800 (Colo. 2005). · cites it 2× “" Cal.Penal Code § 403 (West 2005) (proscribes "disrupting a public assembly or meeting").”
Ribakoff v. City of Long Beach (Cal. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “140 is unconstitutional for the same reason that Penal Code section 403 was determined to be unconstitutional in Kay.”
Williamson v. Nat'l City (S.D. Cal. 2020). · cites it 2× “The 21 “crime at issue” was “violation of California Penal Code section 403,” “disturbance of a 22 public assembly or meeting,” which is “a misdemeanor.”
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