California Justices Strike False Police Misconduct Claim Warning

A decades-old California law that criminalizes knowingly false reports of police misconduct is an unconstitutional burden on speech, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.

The law deters truthful or good-faith complaints from coming forward, a majority of California Supreme Court justices found Monday, by requiring people with complaints to read and sign warnings that they could be prosecuted for intentionally fabricating allegations.

“It is reasonable to assume that when presented with such a situation, some citizens — whether fearful of retaliation for truthful reports of misconduct or merely uncertain whether the alleged misconduct can be proven — might well throw up ...