BRITNEY SPEARS TO HAVE A LOS ANGELES LAW NAMED AFTER HER.

California officials are putting the smack down on those pesky paparazzi folks. And it's all because of Britney Spears. The tormented singer may have a new law in Los Angeles named after her - because it was her $24,000 police escort to hospital last month which prompted councilmen to propose the amendment. The troubled pop star was taken from her Coldwater Canyon home to UCLA Medical Center on January 31, in an ambulance with a motorcade from the Los Angeles Police Department. The job of the motorcade, which included more than 20 police officers, a helicopter and a team of intervention specialists, was to block off traffic ahead and behind the ambulance carrying Spears to hospital, and to keep the paparazzi at bay.

The move has inspired L.A. City Councilman Dennis P. Zine to propose a safety zone be set up to protect areas around celebrities, hospitals, traffic, businesses and homes. The bill also suggests all members of the paparazzi get licenses to take photographs in the protected zones - with those breaking the law having their license revoked and royalties from the picture confiscated. He says, "The straw that broke the camel's back (idea that prompted the law) is the $24,000 we spent to escort an L.A. City ambulance to the hospital. I'm not infringing upon the right to take a picture. I'm concerned about the impact they have on the general public."

Councilmen will vote on whether to adopt the new 'Britney Law' on March 1, 2008.
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