States / California / SB 659
The Parent's Accountability and Child Protection Act: remedies.
Existing law, the Parent's Accountability and Child Protection Act, requires a person or business that seeks to sell a specified product or service that is illegal under state law to sell to a minor to take reasonable steps to ensure that the purchaser is of legal age at the time of purchase or delivery, as prescribed. The act, in an action brought by a public prosecutor, subjects a business or person that violates the act to at least a $7,500 civil penalty for each violation. Existing law requires that the amount in controversy not exceed $35,000 for a limited civil case.
This bill, in addition to any other remedy available under law, in an action brought by a public prosecutor or a parent or legal guardian of a minor who has acquired the product or service, would subject an online business, as defined, that violates the above-described provisions to a civil penalty of the maximum amount in controversy for a limited civil case, or 10 or 20 times that amount, as specified, for each violation and each minor user of the product or service.
- Chamber
- Senate
- Introduced
- Feb 20, 2025
- Last action
- Feb 2, 2026 — Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
- Session
- 20252026
- Momentum
- 5 · Stalled