In re T.M. CA4/3

DISCUSSION

Section 647, subdivision (f) Section 647, subdivision (f) provides, in pertinent part, “[E]very person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor: [¶] . . . [¶] (f) Who is found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor . . . in a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others, or by reason of his or her being under the influence of intoxicating liquor . . . interferes with or obstructs or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or other public way.” “The Legislature has used the phrase ‘public place’ elsewhere in the Penal Code, sometimes with apparently conflicting meaning. Thus, section 653.22, subdivision (a), prohibits loitering in any ‘public place’ with intent to commit prostitution. Section 653.20, subdivision (b), which defines the phrase ‘public place’ as used in section 653.22, subdivision (a), states, in relevant part, that ‘“Public place’ means an area open to the public, . . .’ On the other hand, section 311.6, prohibits, inter alia, obscene live conduct ‘in any public place or in any place exposed to public view, or in any place…