BILL REQ. #:  H-4011.1 

Read first time 02/10/12.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to protecting access to health care facilities; and amending RCW 9A.50.040 and 9A.50.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 9A.50.040 and 1993 c 128 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A person or health care facility aggrieved by the actions prohibited by RCW 9A.50.020 may seek civil damages from those who committed the prohibited acts and those acting in concert with them. A plaintiff in an action brought under this chapter shall not recover more than his or her actual damages and additional sums authorized in RCW 9A.50.050. Once a plaintiff recovers his or her actual damages and any additional sums authorized under this chapter, additional damages shall not be recovered.
     (2)(a) The attorney general may file suit to enjoin a violation of RCW 9A.50.020, for compensatory damages to persons or facilities aggrieved by the actions prohibited by RCW 9A.50.020, and for the assessment of a civil penalty against the respondent. The civil penalty may not exceed fifteen thousand dollars for a first violation and twenty-five thousand dollars for subsequent violations. In determining the amount of the civil penalty, the court shall include prior violations of the federal freedom of access to clinic entrances act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 248, and prior violations of the laws of another state that are equivalent to a violation of this chapter.
     (b) In any case where the attorney general decides not to pursue an action, the county or city may file suit under this subsection (2) for injunctive relief, damages, and penalties for violations of RCW 9A.50.020.
     (3) A person does not have to be criminally convicted of violating RCW 9A.50.020 to be held civilly liable under this section. It is not necessary to prove actual damages to recover the additional sums authorized under RCW 9A.50.050, costs, and reasonable attorneys' fees. The prevailing party is entitled to recover costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.
     (((2))) (4) The superior courts of this state shall have authority to grant temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief to enjoin violations of this chapter.
     In appropriate circumstances, any superior court having personal jurisdiction over one or more defendants may issue injunctive relief that shall have binding effect on the original defendants and persons acting in concert with the original defendants, in any county in the state.
     Due to the nature of the harm involved, injunctive relief may be issued without bond in the discretion of the court, notwithstanding any other requirement imposed by statute.
     The state and its political subdivisions shall cooperate in the enforcement of court injunctions that seek to protect against acts prohibited by this chapter.

Sec. 2   RCW 9A.50.020 and 1993 c 128 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     It is unlawful for a person except as otherwise protected by state or federal law, alone or in concert with others, to willfully or recklessly interfere with access to or from a health care facility or willfully or recklessly disrupt the normal functioning of such facility by:
     (1) Physically obstructing or impeding the free passage of a person seeking to enter or depart from the facility or from the common areas of the real property upon which the facility is located;
     (2) Making noise that unreasonably disturbs the peace within the facility;
     (3) Trespassing on the facility or the common areas of the real property upon which the facility is located;
     (4) Telephoning the facility repeatedly, or knowingly permitting any telephone under his or her control to be used for such purpose; ((or))
     (5) Threatening to inflict injury on the owners, agents, patients, employees, or property of the facility or knowingly permitting any telephone under his or her control to be used for such purpose; or
     (6) Intentionally damaging the property of the facility because the facility is a health care facility.