BILL ANALYSIS SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Senator Mark Leno, Chair A 2009-2010 Regular Session B 1 8 1 AB 1813 (Lieu) 3 As Amended April 15, 2010 Hearing date: June 22, 2010 Government Code MK:mc PUBLIC OFFICIALS: PERSONAL INFORMATION HISTORY Source: California Statewide Law Enforcement Association Prior Legislation: AB 1035 (Spitzer) - 2005, held in Senate Judiciary AB 1595 (Evans) - Chapter 343, Stats. 2005 AB 2905 (Spitzer) - Chapter 248, Stats. 2004 AB 2238 (Dickerson) - Chapter 621, Stats. 2002 Support: L.A. County Probation Officers Union; Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; Riverside Sheriffs' Association; Anaheim Police Officers Political Action Committee; Peace Officers Research Association of California; California District Attorneys Association; Irvine Police Association; California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers; California Correctional Peace Officers Association; California State Sheriffs' Association; Orange County Employees Association; California Probation Parole and Correctional Association; Chief Probation Officers of California; California Public Defenders Association (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageB Opposition: None known Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 74 - Noes 0 KEY ISSUES SHOULD INFORMATION PROVIDED TO CELLULAR PHONE APPLICATIONS BE INCLUDED IN THE TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL MAY OPT OUT FROM HAVING ON THE INTERNET? SHOULD THE DEFINITION OF PEACE OFFICER WITHIN THE DEFINITION OF "PUBLIC OFFICIAL" BE EXPANDED? PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to include the information provided to cellular phone applications in the information that a public official may ask to be removed from the internet and to expand the definition of peace officer within the definition of public official. Existing law , the Public Records Act (PRA), provides that all records of state and local agencies are open and the public has the right to inspect those records under specified conditions. The PRA exempts specified records, and other provisions of law exempt specified records from the PRA requirement of open records. (Government Code 6250 et seq.) Existing law prohibits a state or local agency from posting on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official without first obtaining the written permission of the elected official. (Government Code 6254.21(a).) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly post on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official, his or her spouse or child, (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageC knowing that the information concerns an elected or appointed official and intending to cause imminent great bodily harm that is likely to occur, or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm to that individual. A violation that leads to bodily injury of the official, his or her spouse or child, is prosecutable as a wobbler. (Government Code 6254.21(b).) Existing law states that no person, business, or association shall publicly post or publicly display on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official if that official has made a written demand of that person, business, or association to not disclose his or her home address or telephone number. (Government Code 6254.21(c)(1)(A).) Existing law prohibits any person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet the home address or telephone number of an elected or appointed official with the intent to cause imminent great bodily harm to the official or to any person residing at the official's home address. (Government Code 6254.21(d)(1).) Existing law defines "elected or appointed official" to include, but is not limited to, all of the following: State constitutional officers; Members of the Legislature; Judges and court commissioners; District attorneys; Public defenders; Members of a city council; Members of a board of supervisors; Appointees of the Governor; Appointees of the Legislature; Mayors; City attorneys; Police chiefs and sheriffs; A public safety official, as defined in Government Code Section 6254.24; State administrative law judges; Federal judges and federal defenders; and, (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageD Members of the United States Congress and appointees of the President. (Government Code Section 6254.21(1) to (16).) Existing law states nothing in this section is intended to preclude punishment instead under provisions of the Penal Code of or any other provision of law. (Government Code 6254.21(g).) This bill provides that the information that must be removed includes information provided to cellular telephone applications. Existing law defines public safety official for the purposes of Government Code Section 6254.21 as follows: An active or retired peace officer as defined in Sections 830 and 830.1of the Penal Code. An active or retired public officer or other person listed in Sections 1808.2 and 1808.6 of the Vehicle Code. An "elected or appointed official" as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 6254.21. An attorney employed by the Department of Justice, the State Public Defender, or a county office of the district attorney or public defender, the United States Attorney, or the Federal Public Defender. A city attorney and an attorney who represent cities in criminal matters. A specified employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who supervises inmates or is required to have a prisoner in his or her care or custody, sworn or nonsworn employee who supervises inmates in a city police department, a county sheriff's office, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, federal, state, or a local detention facility, and a local juvenile hall, camp, ranch, or home, and a probation officer as defined in Section 830.5 of the Penal Code. A federal prosecutor, a federal criminal investigator, and a National Park Service Ranger working in California. The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer defined (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageE in Section 830 of the Penal Code, if the peace officer died in the line of duty. State and federal judges and court commissioners. An employee of the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a public defender who submits verification from the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender that the employee represents the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender in matters that routinely place that employee in personal contact with persons under investigation for, charged with, or convicted of, committing criminal acts. A nonsworn employee of the Department of Justice or a police department or sheriff's office that, in the course of his or her employment, is responsible for collecting, documenting, and preserving physical evidence at crime scenes, testifying in court as an expert witness, and other technical duties, and a nonsworn employee that, in the course of his or her employment, performs a variety of standardized and advanced laboratory procedures in the examination of physical crime evidence, determines their results, and provides expert testimony in court. (Government Code 6254.24.) Existing law defines a number of different types of "peace officers" and people who have duties similar to peace officers. (Penal Code 830-830.65 and 830.7.) This bill includes in the definition of peace officer for the purposes of defining "public safety official" peace officers as defined in Penal Code sections 830-830.65 and a person who is not a peace officer but may exercise the powers of arrest during the course and within the scope of their employment pursuant to Penal Code section 830.7. This bill also extends the definition of peace officers to retired officers. RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION IMPLICATIONS (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageF The severe prison overcrowding problem California has experienced for the last several years has not been solved. In December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity -- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years. In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4, 2009, that court stated in part: "California's correctional system is in a tailspin," the state's independent oversight agency has reported. . . . (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report, "Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is Running Out"). Tough-on-crime politics have increased the population of California's prisons dramatically while making necessary reforms impossible. . . . As a result, the state's prisons have become places "of extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, . . . (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while contributing little to the safety of California's residents, . . . . California "spends more on corrections than most countries in the world," but the state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . . . Although California's existing prison system serves neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has for years been unable or unwilling to implement the reforms necessary to reverse its continuing deterioration. (Some citations omitted.) . . . The massive 750% increase in the California prison population since the mid-1970s is the result of political decisions made over three decades, including the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageG laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole system. Unfortunately, as California's prison population has grown, California's political decision-makers have failed to provide the resources and facilities required to meet the additional need for space and for other necessities of prison existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the state could safely reduce its prison population, their recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or postponed indefinitely. The convergence of tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend the necessary funds to support the population growth has brought California's prisons to the breaking point. The state of emergency declared by Governor Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to this day, California's prisons remain severely overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison system continue to languish without constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care.<1> The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010, ruling pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, June 14, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the state's appeal in this case. This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis described above. COMMENTS --------------------------- <1> Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of California United States District Court composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28 United States Code (August 4, 2009). (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageH 1. Need for This Bill According to the author: In the past two years, Los Angeles law enforcement officers were killed at their homes. These tragic deaths continue to serve as a reminder of how vulnerable our public safety officials are, even while off-duty at their homes. Current law allows public safety officials to opt-out of having their personal information on the internet; however, with the expansion of smart cellular phones (iphone, blackberry, droid, etc.) and their applications to the existing opt-out provisions under the Public Safety Officials Home Protection Act. Additionally, this bill will include more peace officers to the definition of public safety officials for the existing opt-out provisions. This bill will help ensure the safety and wellbeing of more public safety officials and their families. (More) 2. Cellular Telephone Applications Existing law permits specified "public officials" to request their home address and telephone be removed from an internet site. This bill provides that information provided to cellular telephone applications is included in information that may be requested to be removed. According to the author: [W]ith the expansion of smart cellular phones 9iphone, blackberry and droid, etc) and their applications, the opted-out information still remains available on these phones because data vendors can purchase public information from a variety of source, including the county recorder's office, county assessor's office and school alumni lists. The concern is that when data vendors purchase the pubic information from a different source, the pubic safety official's home address and telephone number is posted once again, but now on cell phone applications. 3. Definition of "Peace Officer" As noted above, the law provides that a specified "public official" can request specified personal information be removed from internet sites. Peace officers are defined within the definition for "public official" as peace officers falling under Penal Code sections 830 and 830.1. This bill expands that definition by including all peace officers as defined under Penal Code sections 830-830.65. This expansion would include: LA County Police Officers; Park Rangers; Department of General Services Peace Officers; Housing Authority Patrol Officers; Community College Police; School District Police; BART Police; Harbor Police; Transit Police; Airport Police; Municipal Utility District or County Water District Security Police; Welfare Fraud or Child Support Investigators; Coroners and Deputy Coroners, Legislative Sergeant-at-Arms; Marshals of the Supreme Court; Bailiffs of the Court of Appeal; Fire Department of Arson Investigators; State Mental Hospital Officers; Security Officers of the Department of Justice; Parole Officers; and Correctional (More) AB 1813 (Lieu) PageJ Officers. This bill also expands the definition of peace officer to include a person who is not a peace officer but may exercise the powers of arrest during the course and within the scope of their employment under Penal Code section 830.7 which includes: persons designated by a cemetery authority; persons employed as a security officers for independent institutions of higher learning; persons regularly employed as security officers for health facilities; employees designated by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection; persons employed as inspectors, supervisors or security officers for transit districts under specified circumstances; nonpeace officers employed as county parole officers; persons appointed by the Executive Director of the California Science Center; persons employed as investigators by the Department of Transportation for the City of Los Angeles; people employed by any department of the City of Los Angeles who are designated as security officers; and illegal dumping enforcement officers. Finally, this bill expands the universe of peace officers who are included in the definition of "public officials" by extending it to all officers active or retired. Supporters of the bill argue that this expansion protects all peace officers, who have the ability to arrest, and their families. ***************