[ddlatham]

I found that surprising. According to the first Google result[1], it is true that loitering near a school is illegal, BUT loitering doesn't mean just being there. It means being there with an unlawful purpose; they give an example of someone waiting to abduct a child. Watching kids play isn't otherwise a crime, so wouldn't qualify.

I definitely sympathize with the author. As a male, I would expect an even stronger reaction to hanging around watching kids with no clear intent. As others have pointed out, even if you're not committing a crime you can be in for an unpleasant response. It's sad that there are creeps out there. It's sad that as a result, certain innocent behaviors make others nervous (rationally or irrationally). It also gives me a small taste of what it's like to be judged by my category/appearance.

[1]https://www.losangelescriminallawyer.pro/california-penal-co...

[dekhn]

Do you understand that the interpretation of unlawful purpose is left to the enforcement agency at the moment of possible infraction? Note that many municipalities in the US openly publish the names of people who are arrested, and what for, but then don't publish that people got off because they weren't guilty.

[ddlatham]

I totally agree that police at the moment would not likely respect the finer points of that law and may well detain you. I would not advise testing them. However, it's not likely that the DA would eventually be able to convict you. I was sharing what I found interesting about the actual law in question, which was a different impression than when I first read the claim that loitering at a school was illegal (which is technically true!) It's not actually illegal to watch kids play (with no other criminal purpose), even if we both agree that in practice you're likely to get a negative response.

[dekhn]

but you're basically just arguing that "intent matters", when it's clear (empircally) that it doesn't.

[ddlatham]

We agree that intent isn't likely to matter for what will happen to you that day. No one is arguing otherwise.

It does appear to matter in the law, and the day you show up in court (if you're foolish/stubborn enough to test it).

[tldrthelaw]

Whether or not you will eventually win the case will have little bearing on how your day goes that day. If everyone tried just hanging around a school and asserting their rights to do so the number of folks that would be the rightest person in the morgue would not be 0.