BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 589
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: cook
VERSION: 5/18/10
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 15, 2010
SUBJECT:
Driver's licenses and identification cards: sex offenders
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
issue sex offenders distinctive driver's licenses or
identification cards that specifically identify them as
registered sex offenders and requires a registered sex offender
to carry his or her driver's license or identification card at
all times.
ANALYSIS:
To receive a driver's license or identification card (ID card),
a person applies and pays the required fee to DMV. For an
original license or ID card, a person must provide proof of
legal presence in the United States and other specified
information. To receive a driver's license, a person must also
take and pass a written driver's test, a behind-the-wheel
driving test, and a vision examination.
Existing law (Penal Code Section 290) generally requires persons
convicted of enumerated sex offenses to register with local law
enforcement officials within five working days of coming into a
city or county where he or she is residing or located if the
offender has no residence. Typically, a convicted sex offender
must update his or her registration annually within five working
days of a registrant's birthday. The obligation to register as a
sex offender is for life.
This bill :
AB 589 (COOK) Page 2
1.Prohibits DMV from issuing a driver's license or ID card to a
person required to register as a sex offender, unless that
license or ID card displays a distinctive color, a distinctly
colored stripe, or other distinguishing characteristic.
2.Mandates that DMV shall require a registered sex offender
applicant for a driver's license or identification card to
provide a current photograph and address verification as part
of the application process.
3.Requires a registered sex offender to carry his or her
driver's license or identification card at all times outside
of his or her place of residence.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill to aid in the
identification of sex offenders in order to assist law
enforcement and others in keeping children safe. Although
information on sex offenders is available through the Megan's
Law database, the author notes that this information is often
of little use in real-world situations as it requires access
to the internet and time to locate a specific individual in
the database.
The author believes that it is necessary to have immediate
access to information that indicates whether someone is a sex
offender. He cites the example of campus security at a local
high school accosting an adult on campus and asking to see the
person's identification, a driver's license or identification
card. Under this bill, the presented identification would
indicate if that person is a sex offender, which would
facilitate appropriate action on the part of security.
Without this bill, the author asserts that a person might have
no identification, and campus security would have no
indication that a potentially dangerous person is on campus.
Similarly, in searching for a suspect in a missing child case,
law enforcement could look to the special driver's license or
identification card in order to alert them instantly to the
presence of a sex offender, who may be of particular interest
in certain cases. The author introduced this bill because a
distinctive state driver's license or identification card
would provide a quick method by which to alert people to the
presence of a sex offender.
AB 589 (COOK) Page 3
2.Mandate on DMV . This bill mandates that DMV issue each
registered sex offender a driver's license or an ID card that
bears a distinguishing characteristic. To meet this mandate,
DMV would have to acquire information on the identity of those
on the sex offender registration list. This identification
information would have to be definitive in order for DMV to
avoid issuing a sex offender license or ID card to someone who
is not a registered sex offender, an action with potentially
grave consequences. DMV reports that it is unclear how it
could conclusively verify the identity of a person as a
registered sex offender, some of whom were convicted under an
alias.
In addition, DMV has recently concluded a five-year process to
develop a new contract with a private vendor to produce
California driver's licenses and ID cards. If this bill were
to pass, those negotiations would have to be reopened and the
contract rewritten. This would be an onerous and expensive
task.
It is unclear under this bill when DMV would be required to
issue a sex offender driver's license or ID card. A driver's
license is valid for five years, so it is conceivable that a
registered sex offender could possess a license that remains
valid for several years after having to register.
3.Purpose of a driver's license . Existing law requires that to
drive a motor vehicle on a highway, street, or off-street
parking facility a person must hold a valid driver's license.
The only time one must carry a driver's license is when
exercising the driving privilege, though this bill attempts to
change that for sex offenders. In any other situation, one
need not carry a driver's license or an ID card. Therefore, it
is unclear how this bill's mandate requiring a sex offender to
carry a license or ID card at all times would be enforced. The
other 25 million Californians who possess driver's licenses
and ID cards will remain exempt from any requirement to carry
them. Thus, one would presume that a person not carrying a
license or ID card or not producing one when asked is,
therefore, not a sex offender rather than a sex offender who
is withholding or forgot his or her license or ID card.
4.Distinguishing notations . Over time the Legislature and
governor have added three distinguishing characteristics to
the licenses and ID cards of Californians, as follows:
AB 589 (COOK) Page 4
Requiring that a driver's license or an ID card include
a distinctive mark (currently a red stripe) noting the year
of the holder's 21st birthday if it has not occurred by the
date on which DMV issues the license or ID card. Because
the driver's license is a primary form of identification,
the Legislature added this notation to make it easier for
retail sellers of alcoholic beverages to confirm that
buyers are at least 21 years old and therefore legally
eligible to make the purchase.
Requiring that a driver's license include a distinctive
mark (currently a blue stripe) noting the year of the
holder's 18th birthday if it has not occurred by the date
on which DMV issues the license. This enables traffic
officers to identify more easily those drivers who because
they are under 18 years of age, face certain limitations on
their driving privilege.
Noting with a the word "DONOR" and a pink dot on the
driver's license or ID card those who DMV knows are
enrolled as organ donors. Because motor vehicle accidents
are the leading cause of death in otherwise healthy people,
a person enrolled as an organ donor may very likely be
driving just prior to the time he or she becomes an actual
donor. The Legislature added the donor designation to the
licenses of those enrolled as organ donors in order to
facilitate confirmation of the wishes of a dying person at
a time when his or her organs are likely to become
available.
The question this bill poses to the committee is whether it is
appropriate to create another distinguishing characteristic
for DMV to include on the driver's license. It is unclear,
however, how using the driver's license to assess a person's
sex offender status will be an effective tool in enhancing
public safety.
1.The San Diego Union Tribune . This bill is among five bills
that arose from the heinous crimes that registered sex
offender John Albert Gardner III committed against teenagers
Amber Dubois and Chelsea King. (Of these five bills, only this
one will be heard in this committee.) Gardner's crimes
occurred in the San Diego area and precipitated both community
outrage and a campaign to reform the criminal justice system's
methods for protecting those vulnerable to attacks from sexual
predators.
AB 589 (COOK) Page 5
In the wake of these crimes and the related legislation, the
San Diego Union Tribune editorial board undertook its own
comprehensive review of these five bills. In general, that
paper strongly favored all of the bills, except this one.
Editorializing about this bill, the San Diego Union Tribune
calls it "seriously flawed" and states two concerns:
One, it is unlikely to have much practical impact. A
special license or ID would immediately tell a law
enforcement officer that the person is a sex offender, but
what would the officer then do with that information? How
would it help him or her?
And second, such a distinctive license or ID would be a
"scarlet letter" that would unduly identify the offender
not just to law enforcement officers but to anyone looking
at it. Does the clerk at the grocery store who asks for
identification really need to know the person is a
registered sex offender? Why not require burglars or bank
robbers to also have special markings on their
identification? Wouldn't that be more helpful to the store
clerk or bank teller deciding whether to cash a check?
2.Double-referral . The Rules Committee referred this bill to
both the Transportation and Housing Committee and to the
Public Safety Committee. Therefore, if this bill passes this
committee, it will be referred to the Public Safety Committee.
Assembly Votes are not relevant.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 9, 2010)
SUPPORT: More Kids (sponsor)
OPPOSED: None received.