CA law on assaulting an official?

[Camron Rust]

Originally posted by TigerBball
Why special rules for refs?

Assault is assault, right? Ref, little old lady, guy next door, if someone assaults them, then they should be prosecuted fully and basically to the same extent.

I am curious, do the laws increase the penalty or decrease it when a ref is involved.

The little old lady or the guy next door is not faced with making a decision to do a job that might increase their risk of being assaulted over normal day-to-day life.

There are many groups of people that place themselves in positions of potential harm in the process of doing a service to others that is deemed valuable. Referees are one of them (in addition to police, firefighters, etc). Authorities in some states recognize that referees are placed in controversial situations and are exposed to an increased potential for attack everytime they step on the floor. The nature of the job, sports in general, and some fan personalities creates intense animosity.