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.