Bail Bond Blog

californias-attitude-toward-vandalism Vandalism is often an act of passion. Most of us are angry or hurt. We want to strike back at the person we believe treated us badly. We might choose to do this by smashing their mailbox, spray painting a crude message on the side of their house, or slashing their tires. Normally, we feel better about the vandalism… until the police knock on our door. The problem with vandalism is that the victim almost always has a pretty good idea of who was responsible. If they’ve recently argued with, broken up with, or aggravated someone they usually tell the police about the incident. The personal nature of the crime means that you’re likely to get caught.

What California Considers Vandalism

You might think that smashing someone’s mailbox is an act of just revenge. The state disagrees. They consider an act of property damage that was triggered by malicious intent to be vandalism. That includes:
  • Keying someone’s car
  • Smashing a window with a baseball bat
  • Painting graffiti on a building
  • Covering someone’s front door with bumper stickers
03 August, 2020 /
when-can-children-be-left-home-alone

When Can Children Be Left Home Alone?

Parenting is rarely an easy task at the best of times. When times get tough, like they have recently, parenting can get even tougher. With schools shut down all over the country, many parents have suddenly been reminded of just how tough parenting is. This is only made worse when some parents are still working, meaning their kids have to be left home alone. Parents of younger kids can be left in a very tough spot. They need to work, but they also need to keep an eye on their children at home. They worry that their children may not be old enough to be left home alone. Then they wonder at what age a child can legally be left home alone in California.

It Depends on the Child

Deciding to leave a child home alone is not an easy decision to make. Most parents spend hours agonizing over that decision the first time. They may search online for answers, but unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. The one nice thing is that there is no law here in the state of California that states when a child can be left home alone. When it comes to leaving a child home alone, things vary from kid to kid. This is one of the main reasons why the state doesn't set an age limit to when a child can be left home alone. Some kids mature faster than others, and so an 8-year-old may be ready to take care of herself for an hour or two while a 9-year-old may still need constant supervision. The state can't make exact guidelines for this kind of thing and so refer to the parent's expertise on their child. To help parents make a truly informed and well thought out decision, the state does provide parents with a list of questions to ask themselves regarding their child on the California Department of Education's website. These questions include:
  • Can he creatively solve problems?
  • Do you live in an isolated area without close neighbors?
  • Does he always let you know where he is going and when he will return?
  • Does your child become bored easily?
  • Is a neighbor home to help if needed?
  • Is he easily frightened?
  • Is she responsible?
  • Is your neighborhood safe?
  • Will you or another adult always be available to your child in case of an emergency?
  • Would caring for the younger sibling restrict the older child’s activities?
  • Would she be at home with an older brother or sister? Do siblings get along?
  • Would she spend her time responsibly?
  • Would the older sibling resent caring for the younger one?
  • Would your child rather stay home than go to a child care or after-school program?
13 April, 2020 /
are-you-being-safe-online

Are You Being Safe Online?

In the modern age, people are always being reminded of different ways to be safe while traversing the internet. A person never knows what they will run into online, or what private information they may be risking. While the majority of the most popular websites are safe and secure, every once in awhile someone manages to hack their way through the safety features. As more and more people are forced into working or going to school from home, more people are on the internet for longer periods. With so much more free time on their hands and so many more targets, hackers are hard at work trying to find ways to mess with people. One form of trolling that is gaining popularity is referred to as zoombombing and it is greatly disrupting ongoing efforts to educate people during this pandemic.

What Is Zoombombing?

Zoombombing is the act of hacking into a private meeting and then disrupting said meeting with:
  • Foul language
  • Racist remarks
  • Pornographic imagery
  • Threatening violence
13 April, 2020 /

What Is California’s Shelter in Place Order? Over the last few weeks and months, Californians have seen a drastic change in their lifestyle, just like millions of others across the world. The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 Virus, more commonly referred to as the Coronavirus, has...

01 April, 2020 /
Are You a Pubber?

Are You a Phubber?

Technology is everywhere these days. No matter where a person goes anymore, they can count on technology being there with them. This is largely due to cellphones. Over the past two decades, cellphones have become more and more advanced, allowing their users to do more and more things. Nowadays, smart phones allow a person to do just about anything they want whenever they want. This little feat can be pretty great in some instances, and a bit harmful in others. Smart phones and everything that they offer can be very addicting. They can be so addicting, that people can end up ignoring those around them for the tiny little screen in their hand. This has become a real problem, with damaging psychological effects.

What Is Phubbing and How Does It Effects People?

Phubbing is a word that a lot of people have probably never heard of despite the fact that is was first used in 2012. Most people deal with phubbing daily, and it can actually be quite damaging to their relationships. Phubbing, a combination of phone snubbing, is the act of snubbing a conversation with someone in person in favor of something else on a phone. Pretty much everyone has experienced phubbing before, whether someone did it to them or they did it to someone else. Anyone who has experienced it before can attest to the fact that it isn’t pleasant. Being phubbed makes a person feel like they have been rejected, excluded and/or are unimportant to the person they are conversing with. Studies have shown that phubbing can lead to a lot of problems in relationships, no matter the type of relationship. A few different studies have found that phubbing can lead to decreased feelings of satisfaction within a marriage and increased chances of experiencing depression. If adults are more likely to feel depressed due to phubbing, then the same is definitely true for children who are phubbed. Yet another study has found that children who feel like they are ignored by their parents are more likely to be depressed than those kids who had their parent’s undivided attention. Everyone wants to feel like they belong, to feel like they’ve been heard, and to have some aspect of control. However, being phubbed negatively affects all of that and can damage a person’s self-esteem. This is especially true for children, which is why it is so important for parents to pay attention to their kids.

Do You Phub Others?

The problem with phubbing is that for many people, it has become second nature. They might not even realize that they are doing it. In fact, some people may even pride themselves on their ability to “multitask” and carry on two conversations at once. However, multitasking is never as good as it sounds. In the end, a person only puts a fraction of their effort into multitasked tasks versus if they had done each one individually. Some clear signs that a person is a phubber include:
  • Multitasking conversations.
  • Bringing phones out at the table or at social gatherings.
  • Needing to check the phone at every meal.
23 February, 2020 /
What Are California’s Laws on Fighting in Public?

What Are California’s Laws on Fighting in Public?

For the most part, people are able to go about their day without much confrontation. In most instances, people would rather things go smoothly than get into a fight. Unfortunately, there are still times when fights will arise. Often times, they occur because one, or both, of the parties involved is not in their usual state of mind. Maybe one person is having a bad day, or the other has been drinking. In those instances, the people are much easier to anger, and harder to calm down. What everyone needs to remember is that getting into a fight in public can have a lot of negative consequences. Aside from all of the physical injuries, a person could also get into legal trouble too.

Don’t Disturb the Peace

Fights are no fun, and can be very dangerous for everyone involved. This is why there are several laws against fighting here in California. If a person allows themselves to get caught up in a brawl, they could face several different charges. The first charge that a person may face for fighting in public is under California Penal Code (PC) 415, which is the state’s disturbing the peace law. Under this law, it is illegal for a person to disturb someone else with loud music, offensive words, or by starting a fight. A few examples of breaking this law include:
  • Pointing a speaker at a neighbor’s house and playing loud music with the intent of annoying them.
  • Using offensive words or racial slurs to provoke another individual.
  • Starting a fight with another person while in a public place.
23 February, 2020 /
What Counts as Stalking in California?

What Counts as Stalking in California?

In healthy relationships, there is an equal amount of love and adoration from both parties involved. Unfortunately, not every relationship is a healthy one. There are a lot of one-sided relationships out there that are not good for either parties involved. What can be incredibly upsetting, and even scary, is when a person is way more into a person than that person is in to them. In extreme cases, the person who is infatuated with the other could become a stalker. Having a stalker can be truly terrifying and can cause a person fear for their own safety. Due to this fact, the act of stalking someone is illegal here in the state of California. Anyone caught stalking another person will face legal consequences.

Stalking Explained

Being stalked by someone can be very upsetting, even traumatizing, which is why it is illegal to stalk someone in California. Penal Code (PC) 646.9 defines stalking as: “Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking.” That is a whole lot of legal speak that can be a bit confusing, so let’s break it down a little bit.
  • Willfully – For something to be considered stalking, a person has to willfully choose to commit the act, which means he or she did it one purpose.
  • Maliciously – Maliciously means that the person intentionally did a wrongful act with the intent of disturbing, annoying, or injuring the other person.
  • Harassment – Harassment means acting in a way that annoys, alarms, torments, or terrorizes another individual.
  • Credible Threat – A credible threat is one that the threatened individual would have reason to believe the person could carry out, and therefore causes the victim to fear for their safety, or the safety of their immediate family. The threat can be made verbally, in writing, or electronically.
  • Immediate Family – Means spouses, children, siblings, parents, grandparents, or any person who lives in the same house as the person in question.
11 February, 2020 /

Why Are People Smashing Car Windows? Most law abiding citizens see a locked door or window and assume the building or car is inaccessible. However, there are people out there who view those barriers as minor obstacles. If they want inside, they will get inside. Nothing...

27 January, 2020 /

Whenever someone is looking to make a big purchase, they often are looking for discounts as well. After all, everyone works hard for their money and they want to save as much of it as possible. This why when people begin looking to bail someone...

03 January, 2020 /

Finding out that a loved one has been arrested is almost always a shock for people. No one ever expects one of their friends or family members to get arrested, and yet that does happen from time to time. This leads people to look into...

03 January, 2020 /

Going out and exploring the world can be a lot of fun. There are millions of spectacular and amazing sights to see out there. Sadly, not all of the great views are open to the public. From being too dangerous for the public, or someone...

30 December, 2019 /

Parking is a very important aspect of a driver’s life. Whenever a person drives somewhere, they need to find a safe place to put their car while they are away from it. After all, no one wants anything to happen to their car while they...

30 December, 2019 /