BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair SB 255 (Cannella) - Disorderly conduct: invasion of privacy. Amended: June 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0 Urgency: Yes Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: July 1, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 255, an urgency measure, would provide that any person who photographs or records by any means the image of another person without his or her consent who is in a state of full or partial undress in an area in which the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and subsequently distributes the image taken which could cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Fiscal Impact: Potential ongoing court-related costs for new misdemeanor filings of $24,000 (General Fund*) for every 50 additional filings per year. Non-reimbursable local costs for enforcement offset to a degree by fine revenue. While the impact of this bill independently on local jails is likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of new misdemeanors could create General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources in the context of criminal justice realignment. *Trial Court Trust Fund Background: Existing law provides that any person who uses a concealed camcorder, motion picture camera, or photographic camera of any type, to secretly videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another, identifiable person who may be in a state of full or partial undress, without the consent or knowledge of that other person, in the interior of any area in which that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of that other person is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. SB 255 (Cannella) Page 1 Under existing law, a first violation of the offense of disorderly conduct is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. A second or subsequent violation of that offense, or any violation of that offense in which the victim was a minor at the time of the offense, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. This bill seeks to address the issue of cyber revenge or humiliation involving the electronic distribution of nude or sexually explicit images with the intent to humiliate or cause emotional distress. Proposed Law: This bill would create a new misdemeanor defined under the offense of disorderly conduct. Specifically, this bill: Provides that any person who photographs or records by any means the image of another, identifiable person without his or her consent who is in a state of full or partial undress in any area in which the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and subsequently distributes the image taken, where the distribution of the image would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. A first violation is punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. A second or subsequent violation, or any violation if the victim was a minor at the time of the offense, is punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment. Includes an urgency clause stating, "In order to protect the privacy of the public and the safety of the public at the earliest possible time, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately." Prior Legislation: AB 919 (Houston) Chapter 584/2008 provided that every person who uses an electronic communications device to harass another through the actions of a third party, as specified, is guilty of a misdemeanor. SB 255 (Cannella) Page 2 Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill could result in increased court costs due to additional misdemeanor filings for the offense of disorderly conduct as specified in this measure. It is unknown how many new filings would result due to the provisions of this bill, but the fiscal impact is estimated to be minor. The courts may incur additional costs of approximately $24,000 (General Fund) statewide for every 50 new misdemeanors filed annually. The creation of new misdemeanors has historically been analyzed by this Committee to result in non-reimbursable state mandated costs for local law enforcement and incarceration. Staff notes, however, that the creation of new misdemeanors taken cumulatively could increase the statewide adult jail population to a degree that could potentially impact the flexibility of counties to manage their jail populations recently exacerbated under 2011 Public Safety Realignment. While the provisions of this bill are likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of all new misdemeanors could create unknown General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources.