Shaffer

DISCUSSION

The Legislature enacted section 527.6 “‘to protect the individual’s right to pursue safety, happiness and privacy as guaranteed by the California Constitution.’ [Citations.] It does so by providing expedited injunctive relief to victims of harassment. [Citation.]” (Brekke, supra, 125 Cal.App.4th at p. 1412; Thomas v. Quintero (2005) 126 Cal.App.4th 635, 648.) Section 527.6 enables “[a] person who has suffered harassment” — 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” — to seek “an injunction prohibiting harassment as provided in this section.” (§ 527.6, subds. (a)(1), (b)(3).) “The course of conduct must be such as would cause a

2 reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress” to the party seeking the injunction. (§ 527.6, subd. (b)(3).) A judge may issue an injunction pursuant to section 527.6 upon “clear and convincing evidence that unlawful harassment exists[.]” (§ 527.6, subd. (i).) We uphold the injunction if there…