Stanistreet

John J. Hunter, Judge [*] , Superior Court County of Ventura.

Andrew Wolf, Ventura, for Defendant and Appellant Shaun Stanistreet.

Steven Warner, Washington DC, for Defendant and Appellant Barbara Atkinson.

Daniel P. Tokaji and Mark D. Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, for ACLU Foundation of Southern California as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.

Michael D. Bradbury, District Attorney, and Michael D. Schwartz, Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

GILBERT, P.J.

Penal Code section 148.6. [1] makes it a crime to knowingly make a false accusation of misconduct against a peace officer. It is not a crime to knowingly make such an accusation against a firefighter, a paramedic, a teacher, an elected official, or anyone else. By protecting only peace officers, section 148.6 selectively prohibits expression because of its content. It therefore violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In a written complaint filed with the Oxnard Police Department, defendants Shaun Stanistreet and Barbara Atkinson accused an Oxnard police officer of committing lewd conduct at a Police Activities League (PAL) gathering. PAL is a police-sponsored group…