18 Pa.C.S. § 2

This is the official text of 18 Pa.C.S. § 2, part of Pennsylvania’s Pa.C.S — part of the compiled statutory law of Pennsylvania, published by the state as "Pa.C.S." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Right of action for injunction, damages or other relief.

Official statutory text

(a) General rule.--Any person who incurs injury to his person or damage or loss to his property as a result of conduct described in 18 Pa.C.S. § 2710 (relating to ethnic intimidation) or 18 Pa.C.S. § 3307 (relating to institutional vandalism) shall have a right of action against the actor for injunction, damages or other appropriate civil or equitable relief. In any such action the issue of whether the defendant engaged in the conduct alleged shall be determined according to the burden of proof used in other civil actions for similar relief.

(b) Damages and expenses recoverable.--The plaintiff in an action under this section may recover:

(1) General and special damages, including damages for emotional distress.

(2) Punitive damages.

(3) Reasonable attorneys fees and costs. 1989, NOVEMBER 17, P.L.592, NO.64 § 6. Severability. The provisions of this act are severable. If any word, phrase or provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect any other word, phrase or provision or application of this act which can be given effect without the invalid word, phrase, provision or application. Explanatory Note. Act 64 added or amended the defs. of "fertilization," "gestational age," "pregnancy" and "unborn child" in section 3203 and added or amended sections 3204(c) and (d), 3205(a) and (c), 3206(f)(1), 3208(a), 3208.1, 3209, 3210, 3211, 3212(b), 3214(a), 3215(b), 3216, 3217, 3218(a), 3220 and 4302 of Title 18. § 7. Publication of forms and materials.

The Department of Health shall create the forms required by 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3209(d) and 3214(a) within 30 days after the effective date of this act and shall cause to be published, within 60 days after the effective date of this act, the printed materials described in 18 Pa.C.S. § 3208(a). § 8. Applicability of reporting and distribution requirements. No provision of this act requiring the reporting of information on forms published by the Department of Health, or requiring the distribution of printed materials published by the Department of Health pursuant to 18 Pa.C.S. § 3208, shall be applicable until ten days after the requisite forms are first created and printed materials are first published by the Department of Health or until the effective date of this act, whichever is later. § 9. Effective date. This act shall take effect as follows:

(1) The provisions of 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 3209(d) and 3214(a) requiring the Department of Health to create forms and of 18 Pa.C.S. § 3208(a) requiring the department to publish certain information shall take effect immediately.

(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect in 60 days. 1994, APRIL 21, P.L.130, NO.16 Preamble The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1) For the health, safety and welfare of the residents of this Commonwealth, the laws designed to deter the defacement of public and private property through the use of aerosol spray-paint cans, broad-tipped indelible markers and other marking devices should be strengthened.

(2) Where appropriate, the court should require those who commit acts of defacement to restore the damaged property to its original condition. Explanatory Note. Act 16 amended section 3307 of Title 18. 1994, APRIL 21, P.L.131, NO.17 Preamble The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1) For the health, safety and welfare of the residents of this Commonwealth, the laws designed to deter the defacement of public and private property through the use of aerosol spray-paint cans, broad-tipped indelible markers and other marking devices should be strengthened.
nded section 3307 of Title 18. 1994, APRIL 21, P.L.131, NO.17 Preamble The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1) For the health, safety and welfare of the residents of this Commonwealth, the laws designed to deter the defacement of public and private property through the use of aerosol spray-paint cans, broad-tipped indelible markers and other marking devices should be strengthened.

(2) Where appropriate, the court should require those who commit acts of defacement to restore the damaged property to its original condition. Explanatory Note. Act 17 amended section 3304 of Title 18 and added section 9720 of Title 42. 1994, DECEMBER 12, P.L.1248, NO.148 Preamble

The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: The youth of Pennsylvania are the greatest resource of this Commonwealth and the Commonwealth finds that the protection of minors from the possible abuse of alcohol is of great importance. The Commonwealth seeks to prevent minors from using alcoholic products. Nonalcoholic beer, wine and liquor contain amounts of alcohol and often taste, look and smell like legitimate alcoholic products. Therefore, the Commonwealth has a purpose in the restriction of sales of these products to minors. Nonalcoholic beverages are made for those who want to enjoy the taste of alcohol without the effects of alcohol and should never be intended to introduce the youth of this Commonwealth to drinking beer, wine or liquor. Explanatory Note. Act 148 amended or added sections 5781 and 6310.7 of Title 18. 1995, JUNE 13, 1ST SP.SESS., P.L.1024, NO.17 Preamble The General Assembly hereby declares that the purpose of this act is to provide support to law enforcement in the area of crime prevention and control, that it is not the purpose of this act to place any undue or unnecessary restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, transfer, transportation or use of firearms, rifles or shotguns for personal protection, hunting, target shooting, employment or any other lawful activity, and that this act is not intended to discourage or restrict the private ownership and use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes or to provide for the imposition by rules or regulations of any procedures or requirements other than those necessary to implement and effectuate the provisions of this act. The General Assembly hereby recognizes and declares its support of the fundamental constitutional right of Commonwealth citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and this Commonwealth. Explanatory Note. Act 17 amended, added or repealed sections 913, 6101, 6102, 6103, 6104, 6105, 6106.1, 6107, 6109, 6110, 6110.1, 6111, 6111.1, 6111.2, 6111.3, 6111.4, 6111.5, 6112, 6113, 6114, 6115, 6116, 6117, 6118 and 6125 of Title 18 and sections 6308 and 9712 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure). 1995, OCTOBER 11, 1ST SP.SESS., P.L.1058, NO.21

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.