Cellini

BACKGROUND

The parties are familiar with the facts and procedural history of this case, including the details of the conduct giving rise to the civil harassment restraining order imposed against Schwarz. As such, we only briefly summarize the background information pertinent to the resolution of this appeal. Section 527.6 In 1978, the California Legislature enacted a statute (§ 527.6) permitting persons who are victims of specified types of harassment to seek injunctive relief against the harassing party. (Krug v. Maschmeier (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 796, 798; see § 527.6, subds. (a), (b).) The statute provides an expedited procedure to prevent harassment (Byers v. Cathcart (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 805, 811), which is defined as “unlawful violence, a credible threat of violence, or a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be that which would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to the petitioner.” (§ 527.6, subd. (b)(3).)3 When the

2 At oral argument in…