The California State Legislature has amended the Health and Safety Code relating to body art.   This new law signed by the Governor on October 4, 2013, provides minimum standards for tattoos and branding, including an informed consent document, requires a body art facility and requires any information to be maintained in compliance with HIPPA.

Speaking of body parts in a different sense, the Legislature has also amended California’s Penal Code relative to electronic recordation of body parts. Any person who films another person who is undressed or partially dressed without  consent in the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth, or the interior of any other area in which that other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to cause emotional distress, and the person does experience emotional distress, is guilty of disorderly conduct, which is a misdemeanor.

A first violation of that offense is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both. A  subsequent violation of that offense, or any violation of that offense in which the victim was, at the time of the offense, a minor, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or both.