California Anti-Rave Legislation Moving Forward
Update: The bill was "read" on Monday and remains on "active" status. See the deets here First posted at 1:03 p.m.
Raver Fiona: They used to call it "empathy," you know.
Despite reports elsewhere, the Anti Raves Act of 2011 bill by San Francisco Democrat Fiona Ma is moving forward, her spokesman told the Weekly Tuesday. Several news organizations reported she "withdrew" the bill or put it on hold.
Not true. As Ma told the Weekly Dec. 23, she'll take her time with the bill -- up to nine months -- to seek the input of all "stakeholders" (namely ravers) in the matter.
As a raver-led online backlash to the proposed law built last week, Ma announced that she would be sure to "convene stakeholder meetings." Some news outlets mistook that to mean the bill has been shelved.
Ma's spokesman told us that she has until May 6 to submit her proposal to the assembly's policy committee. Until then, he said, she'll talk to concerned parties about how to shape the law.
The bill, AB 74, seeks to ban raves at publicly-owned venues such as the L.A. Coliseum. It would also require private events to have proper permits (a redundancy if you ask us).
It was partly inspired by the death of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, who took ecstasy and attended a rave there last June.
Two young men died at a springtime rave at the state-run Cow Palace in the Bay Area, inspiring officials there to ban raves at that venue.
Ma told us the legislation could actually take about nine months to gel.
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