BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 157
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 157 (Campos)
          As Amended April 22, 2013
          Majority vote 

           JUDICIARY           9-0         APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
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          |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner,       |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow,   |
          |     |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson,   |     |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian  |
          |     |Garcia, Maienschein,      |     |Calderon, Campos,         |
          |     |Muratsuchi, Stone         |     |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,  |
          |     |                          |     |Hall, Holden, Linder,     |
          |     |                          |     |Pan, Quirk, Wagner,       |
          |     |                          |     |Ammiano                   |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Effective July 1, 2014, adds false impersonation to  
          the list of activities that may be enjoined under the Domestic  
          Violence Protection Act.  Specifically,  this bill  includes  
          credibly impersonating or falsely personating, as defined, in  
          the list of activities for which a protective order may be  
          issued under the Domestic Violence Protection Act on or after  
          July 1, 2014.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Allows a court to issue a domestic violence protective order  
            enjoining a party from molesting, attacking, striking,  
            stalking, threatening, sexually assaulting, battering,  
            harassing, telephoning, destroying personal property, and  
            other specified behaviors.  

          2)Allows protective orders to be issued ex parte, after notice  
            and a hearing, or by a judicial officer after assertions by a  
            law enforcement officer that the person is in immediate and  
            present danger of domestic violence.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, minor absorbable costs for the Judicial Council to  
          amend a form and revise a rule of court.

           COMMENTS  :  The growth of social media and online communications  








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          has had tremendous benefits for our society, but has also  
          provided a new venue for domestic abuse.  Batterers can, with  
          relative ease, impersonate their victims in an effort to further  
          abuse them.  To combat this, this bill adds false impersonation  
          to the list of activities that may be enjoined under a  
          protective order issued under the Domestic Violence Prevention  
          Act.  

          In support of the bill, the author writes:

               False impersonation and online identity theft is  
               becoming an increasingly common tactic of abuse for  
               domestic violence victims.  The popularity of  
               Facebook, Twitter and other online technologies and  
               the ease with which someone can create, assume and/or  
               misuse another person's online presence have provided  
               a new and devastating tool for abusers.  As such, it  
               is important that protective orders should evolve to  
               reflect the new technological realities.  

               Judges are seeing more and more instances of  
               allegations and evidence that an abuser has used a  
               domestic violence victim's name and created a false  
               Facebook page or Twitter account.  Typically the  
               abuser will post inflammatory statements designed to  
               alienate the victim from friends and family, disrupt  
               the victim's online presence, or damage the victim's  
               reputation and cause embarrassment.  

               AB 157 would help judges reviewing domestic violence  
               protective orders to know that "high- tech abuse" is  
               clearly considered abuse in the Family Code.  Not all  
               law enforcement jurisdictions will respond with  
               criminal investigations in these cases and victims  
               have limited remedies.  As such, these types of abuse  
               should be clearly enumerated and not force judges to  
               try and fit this conduct under existing prohibitions  
               such as disturbing the peace or harassment when  
               deciding whether to grant or deny orders.
           
           The first case prosecuted under California cyberstalking law  
          provides a chilling example of the harm that can be done through  
          false impersonation and the need for protection against this  
          type of abuse.  According the United States Attorney General's  








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          account of the crime, the batterer impersonated a woman who had  
          rejected his romantic advances and posted on Internet bulletin  
          boards and chat rooms that she fantasized about being raped.  He  
          also posted her address and phone number.  According to the  
          account, men knocked on the woman's door at least six times  
          saying they wanted to rape her.  While this batterer was  
          convicted of his crime, more should be done to better protect  
          victims by preventing this type of domestic abuse before it  
          occurs.  This bill makes clear that judges can issue protective  
          orders to restrain batterers from abusing and harassing their  
          victims through false impersonation.
           
           In support of the bill, the California Partnership to End  
          Domestic Violence writes:

               Some abusers will use their knowledge of the victim's  
               passwords to lock them out of their internet accounts,  
               including email, social media, and other accounts.  In  
               today's reality, where so much information is  
               transmitted online, losing access to those accounts  
               can have a dramatic impact on a survivor's daily life.  
                Further, abusers will often use their access to the  
               victim's social networking sites and email accounts to  
               post private, intimate photographs, which can shame  
               and intimidate a survivor.  The misuse of technology  
               to abuse and stalk victims is a growing reality, and  
               AB 157 will help to address this harmful tactic.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916)  
          319-2334 


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