In re J.L. : A Public High School Locker Room is Not a "Commercial Establishment" Under the New Shoplifting Statute

In early 2014, young master J.L. cut class with a friend and went into the high school's locker room.  There he picked open a locker with a bent paper clip and took a cell phone.  J.L. confessed to the school cop and gave up the phone.  He was arrested for, charged with, and later admitted to, committing felony second degree burglary.  J.L. was made a ward of the court and sent home on probation.

Following the November 4, 2015, passage of Proposition 47, J.L. returned to court and petitioned for his felony burglary, Penal Code 459, to be reduced to shoplifting, Penal Code 459.5.  The trial court denied J.L.'s petition and an appeal followed.

A panel from the Second District affirms.  Shoplifting is the entrance into a commercial establishment with an intent to commit larceny while the establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of property you take, or intend to take, is 950 bucks or less.  The case turns on whether the high school is a "commercial establishment" as understood within PC 459.5.  The panel considers various common and legal usages of the word "commercial" as an adjective pertaining to the buying or selling of goods or services, and determines a high school locker room is not a commercial establishment.  Sounds right.  There is dicta hinting that perhaps a different result might occur if the theft was from a cafeteria or school book store.

This case gives rise to interesting hypotheticals.  Here the school was a public school, but what if the school was private and for-profit?  Would not the school be engaged in the selling of educational services and thus a "commercial establishment"?  What about the locker room of a hospital that is affiliated with a public university?  What if a person enters the hospital with a clean mind, but enters the locker room within with felonious intent?  What if a customer sneaks into the employee break room of a retail store and fossicks through the employees' lockers?  If the customer's intent did not arise until he saw the break room, would that fall under shoplifting?