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.