Brown Petitions California Supreme Court to Review Body Armor Decision

San Francisco—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today petitioned the California Supreme Court to review the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal’s ruling which “wrongly threw out” the law banning felons from possessing body armor.

“The appellate court wrongly threw out an important law that prohibited felons from possessing body armor,” Brown said. “We’re asking the Supreme Court to review the decision and restore important protections for the men and women in law enforcement.”

In 1998, the California Legislature enacted the James Guelff Body Armor Act to prohibit felons convicted of a violent crime from possessing body armor.

On December 17, 2009, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal struck down the statute, ruling that the law was too vague.

Brown’s petition argues that the Court of Appeal’s Opinion:

• Fails to follow the test for determining whether a statute is vague;
• Contradicts the Legislature’s intent in enacting a body armor statute; and,
• Needlessly abrogates the entire body armor statute.

A copy of the Petition is attached.