San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 18, 2008 by Sean Webby
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10755739?source%253Dmost_viewed.20F88DA3D7D369F5BB70F372987EAE1F.html
Franklin Zimring, law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, notes police have wide discretion in whether to narrowly use the law, such as when they spot people passed out in the roadway; or to freely use it when they see people whose conduct—harassing passers-by by shouting and cursing, for example—is inviting trouble. Though in recent years the trend is to use the law less strictly, Zimring said, neither approach is inherently right or wrong.