BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1195
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 1195 (Eggman) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
As Proposed to Be Amended
SUBJECT : PUBLIC RECORDS: CRIME VICTIMS
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES BE PROHIBITED FROM
REQUIRING PROOF OF LEGAL RESIDENCY FROM PERSONS SEEKING ACCESS
TO CRIME REPORTS AND OTHER RELATED RECORDS, PARTICULARLY WHEN
THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUIRES DISCLOSURE TO THOSE
PERSONS WITH NO SUCH CONDITION?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
According to the author, this bill is needed to address the
reported lack of access some crime victims have experienced in
trying to obtain a copy of the crime report from local law
enforcement officials. Therefore, this bill seeks to prohibit
law enforcement agencies from requiring proof of legal residency
from crime victims and other persons seeking access to crime
reports and related information that is otherwise required to be
disclosed to them under the California Public Records Act (PRA).
In addition, as proposed to be amended, this bill provides that
if a state or local law enforcement agency requires
identification to be presented in order to obtain that
information, the agency may not refuse to accept specified forms
of identification, including a current driver's license or
state-issued identification card, U.S. or foreign passport, or a
Matricular Consular. Proponents of the bill, including
advocates for immigrants and domestic violence survivors,
contend that denying a crime victim access to his or her crime
report may unjustly prevent the victim from exercising his or
her legal rights or obtaining essential services that will help
the victim cope and move ahead with life. This bill has no
known opposition.
SUMMARY : Prohibits law enforcement agencies from requiring
proof of legal presence in the U.S. and refusing to accept
certain forms of identification, if identification is required,
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for the disclosure of crime reports and other related records
required to be disclosed under the Public Records Act.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits a state or local law enforcement agency from
requiring a victim of any incident to show proof of the
victim's legal presence in the United States in order to
obtain specified information about the incident ("crime
report") required to be disclosed by the law enforcement
agency pursuant to the Public Records Act.
2)Provides that if, for identification purposes, a state or
local law enforcement agency requires identification in order
for a victim of an incident, or an authorized representative
thereof, to obtain that information, the agency shall, at a
minimum, accept the following forms of identification:
a) A current U.S. state issued driver's license or
identification card.
b) A current passport issued by the United States or by a
foreign government with whom the United States has a
diplomatic relationship.
c) A current Matricula Consular card.
EXISTING LAW, the California Public Records Act:
1)Requires public records to be open to inspection by the public
except as specifically exempted from disclosure. (Government
Code Section 6253(a). Unless stated otherwise, all further
statutory references are to that code.)
2)Requires each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy
of records that reasonably describes an identifiable record or
records (except for those exempt from disclosure), to make
the records promptly available to any person upon payment of
fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee
if applicable. (Section 6253(b).)
3)Exempts from disclosure, among many other things,
investigatory and security files compiled by any state or
local law enforcement agency. However, certain items of
information contained in such records (as specified below) are
permitted to be disclosed unless disclosure would endanger the
successful completion of the investigation or endanger the
safety of a witness or the victim or other persons involved in
the investigation. (Section 6254(f).)
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4)Subject to the above "endangerment" limitation, permits the
disclosure of information about (a) persons arrested by the
agency (e.g. physical description, date and time of arrest,
name and occupation, all charges filed); (b) facts about
complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency
(including information about the crimes alleged and factual
circumstances about the crime or incident and the injuries
sustained by victims); and (c) pursuant to a request for
information for scholarly, journalistic, political, or
governmental purpose, the current address of every individual
arrested by the agency and the current address of the victim
of a crime. (Section 6254(f)(1), (f)(2), (f)(3).)
5)Provides that when a person is the victim of more than one
crime, information disclosing that the person is a victim of a
crime may be deleted at the request of the victim, or the
victim's parent or guardian if the victim is a minor, in
making the report of the crime, or of any crime or incident
accompanying the crime, available to the public. (Section
6254(f)(2).)
COMMENTS : This bill, co-sponsored by the California Immigrant
Policy Center and El Concilio, seeks to prohibit law enforcement
agencies from requiring proof of legal residency from crime
victims and other persons seeking access to crime reports and
related information that is otherwise required to be disclosed
to them under the California Public Records Act (PRA). In
addition, as proposed to be amended, this bill provides that if
a state or local law enforcement agency requires identification
to be presented in order to obtain that information, the agency
may not refuse to accept specified forms of identification,
including a driver's license, U.S. or foreign passport, or a
Matricular Consular (the consular identification card issued by
the Mexican government to its citizens living abroad).
Author's Statement: According to the author, this bill is
needed to address the reported lack of access some crime victims
have experienced in trying to obtain a copy of the crime report
from local law enforcement officials. The author states:
There are reports of some victims of crime being denied
access to their crime report due to their residency status.
They are being denied access to their crime report on the
ground that a foreign passport without supporting
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immigration documents or a Matricula Consular card are not
appropriate forms of identification. Current law does not
spell out what forms of identification are acceptable if a
victim wishes to access their crime report.
This bill will remedy the problem by prescribing acceptable
forms of identification without actually mandating that a
law enforcement agency require identification in order to
access a crime report. (Moreover) this bill ensures that
the public has access to public records as required by the
California Public Records Act.
Reported problems with crime victims' access to crime reports.
Under the PRA, information associated with a particular crime
(hereafter "crime report") includes, but is not limited to, the
following: (1) the time, substance, and location of all
complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency;
(2) the time and nature of the response thereto; (3) the time,
date, and location of the occurrence; (4) the time and date of
the report; (5) the name and age of the victim; (6) the factual
circumstances surrounding the crime or incident; and (7) a
general description of any injuries, property, or weapons
involved. (Section 6254(f).)
According to the California Immigrant Policy Center, a
co-sponsor of this bill, there are many legitimate reasons why a
crime victim would seek a copy of the crime report that he or
she is entitled to access under the PRA. For example, victims
of human trafficking or other crimes who apply for a U-visa or
T-visa under the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA) would
largely benefit from accessing their crime records to support
their applications. A crime report can help a victim of
domestic violence obtain a restraining order or initiate divorce
proceedings in an expedient matter. In addition, a victim of
identity theft needs to obtain a crime report in order to create
an Identity Theft Report with the Federal Trade Commission.
Some advocates for women and immigrants report that, in the
areas that they operate, local law enforcement officials have
been known to deny crime victims their crime report because they
do not present a form of identification that demonstrates proof
of legal residency. For example, the Haven's Women's Center of
Stanislaus, which provides services for victims and survivors of
domestic violence, states:
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This situation continues to be an issue with our
county Sheriff's department. Multiple requests to the
Sheriff from a variety of organizations and
individuals to change this policy have fallen on deaf
ears. . . It is our sincere belief that legislation
is the only way to ensure the rights of immigrants in
Stanislaus County, particularly those who have been
victimized by their significant others. . . We do not
believe law enforcement agencies should add to the
burdens shouldered by survivors by requiring proof of
legal status in order to obtain a copy of their crime
report.
According to an informal survey of local law enforcement
agencies by El Concilio, a co-sponsor of this bill, five of the
22 county sheriff's offices surveyed in the state reported that
they would not accept a foreign passport or the Matricula
Consular as a valid form of identification, even though both
contain a picture of the person and are widely accepted as
simply proving the person to be who they claim to be.
The Public Records Act ensures disclosure of information to
specified persons without regard to legal residency status. The
California Public Records Act governs the disclosure of
information collected and maintained by public agencies.
Generally, all public records are accessible to the public upon
request, unless the record requested is exempt from public
disclosure. Section 6254 of the PRA exempts from disclosure
over two dozen types of records because of the content of the
information in those records, and outlines specific conditions
that must be met to authorize the disclosure of certain other
records.
The PRA contemplates that disclosure of certain information
about the crime may endanger the safety of a witness or other
person involved in the investigation, or endanger the successful
completion of the investigation itself, and therefore permits
non-disclosure in those conditions when disclosure would
otherwise be required. Importantly, the PRA does not expressly
condition disclosure of information based on the identity of the
person requesting it, only that if no witness, investigator, or
investigation is endangered, then the agency "shall make public"
the information to the requesting party. The PRA does not even
require the victim of a crime to prove he or she is the victim
identified in the crime report, because disclosure of the
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information is not authorized to be withheld on that basis.
According to the author, in practice, however, most law
enforcement agencies require proof of identification to support
a request for a crime report. This bill does not seek to
restrict the practice of law enforcement agencies to ask for
identification from persons seeking release of crime reports or
other related public records. Instead, it simply prohibits law
enforcement agencies from requiring proof of legal status from a
person in order to obtain a copy of a crime report. As proposed
to be amended, this bill provides that if a law enforcement
agency chooses to require identification at all, it may not
refuse to accept certain forms of identification, as specified
in the bill.
Author's Proposed Amendment : In order to clarify that the bill
requires certain forms of identification to be accepted, but
only if the law enforcement agency elects to require
identification at all, the author proposes to amend the bill as
follows:
On page 5, line 29, strike "may accept the following" and
insert "shall, at a minimum, accept"
On page 5, strike lines 30 to 33, and insert "a current
U.S. state issued driver's license or identification card,
a current passport issued by the United States or by a
foreign government with whom the United States has a
diplomatic relationship, or a current"
Background on the Matricula Consular: The Matricula Consular is
a personal identification card issued by the Mexican government
through its consulate offices that serves as the official record
for its citizens living outside of Mexico. The registration of
nationals through the consulate offices is a practice recognized
by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and Mexican
Consulates have legally issued these documents since 1871.
According to materials published by the Consulate of Mexico, the
purpose of consular registration is to enable consular officers
to provide protection and access to consular services, as well
as to help relatives and Mexican authorities to locate their
nationals abroad.
This bill seeks to ensure that law enforcement officials accept
presentation of the Matricula Consular as valid identification
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from a person seeking to obtain a crime report or other records
required to be disclosed to that person under the PRA. The
Committee's research indicates the Matricula Consular is already
recognized by many law enforcement agencies in California for
the purpose of providing valid identification. In 2003, at
least 12 counties, 25 cities, and dozens of police and sheriff's
departments in California were accepting the Matricula Consular
as a form of identification. (Senate Floor Analysis of AB 25
(N��ez), of 2003-04, 8/27/2003.) In fact, according the
informal survey of sheriff's departments cited by the author, at
least five sheriff departments in California report that they
already accept the Matricula Consular for purposes of obtaining
crime records. In some jurisdictions, the Matricula Consular is
also accepted for other local governmental purposes, including,
for example, to apply for public utilities and to identify
oneself at schools and public libraries as a parent or user.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
El Concilio (co-sponsor)
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) (co-sponsor)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Partnership
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Greenlining Institute
Haven's Women's Center of Stanislaus
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Immigration Center for Women and Children
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Council of Jewish Women
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
AB 1195
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