BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 303
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
303 (Gonzalez)
As Amended August 31, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 77-0 | (May 7, 2015) |SENATE: | 38-0 | (September 2, |
| | | | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY: Requires that all persons within sight of specified
detainees and incarcerated juveniles during a strip search or
visual or physical body cavity search be of the same sex as the
person being searched, except for physicians or licensed medical
personnel.
The Senate amendments specify that the provisions of this bill
shall apply to minors held in juvenile detention facilities.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations that law
enforcement policies and practices for conducting strip or
body cavity searches of detained persons vary widely
throughout California. Consequently, some people have been
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arbitrarily subjected to unnecessary strip and body cavity
searches after arrests for minor misdemeanor and infraction
offenses. Some present search practices violate state and
federal constitutional rights to privacy and freedom from
unreasonable searches and seizures.
2)States the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section
to protect the state and federal constitutional rights of the
people of California by establishing a statewide policy
strictly limiting strip and body cavity searches.
3)Provides that all persons conducting or otherwise present
during a strip search or visual or physical body cavity search
shall be of the same sex as the person being searched, except
for physicians or licensed medical personnel.
4)Provides that the provisions these specified searches shall
apply only to pre-arraignment detainees arrested for
infraction or misdemeanor offenses and to any minor detained
prior to a detention hearing on the grounds that he or she is
a person described in specified sections of the Welfare and
Institutions Code alleged to have committed a misdemeanor or
infraction offense. The provisions of this section shall not
apply to any person in the custody of the Director of the
Department of Corrections or the Director of the Youth
Authority.
5)Defines "strip search" as a search which requires a person to
remove or arrange some or all of his or her clothing so as to
permit a visual inspection of the underclothing, breasts,
buttocks, or genitalia of such person.
6)Defines "body cavity" as the stomach or rectal cavity of a
person, and vagina of a female person.
7)Defines "visual body cavity search" as the visual inspection
of a body cavity.
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8)Defines physical body cavity search" as the physical intrusion
into a body cavity for the purpose of discovering any object
concealed in the body cavity.
9)States that when a person is arrested and taken into custody,
that person may be subjected to pat-down searches, metal
detector searches, and thorough clothing searches in order to
discover and retrieve concealed weapons and contraband
substances prior to being placed in a booking cell.
10)Provides that no person arrested and held in custody on a
misdemeanor or infraction offense, except those involving
weapons, controlled substances or violence nor any minor
detained prior to a detention hearing on the grounds that he
or she is a person described in specified sections of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, except for those minors alleged
to have committed felonies or offenses involving weapons,
controlled substances or violence, shall be subjected to a
strip search or visual body cavity search prior to placement
in the general jail population, unless a peace officer has
determined there is reasonable suspicion based on specific and
articulable facts to believe such person is concealing a
weapon or contraband, and a strip search will result in the
discovery of the weapon or contraband. No strip search or
visual body cavity search or both may be conducted without the
prior written authorization of the supervising officer on
duty. The authorization shall include the specific and
articulable facts and circumstances upon which the reasonable
suspicion determination was made by the supervisor.
11)Provides that no person arrested on a misdemeanor or
infraction offense, nor any minor, shall be subjected to a
physical body cavity search except under the authority of a
search warrant issued by a magistrate specifically authorizing
the physical body cavity search.
12)Provides that persons conducting a strip search or a visual
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body cavity search shall not touch the breasts, buttocks, or
genitalia of the person being searched.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill required that all persons
within sight of specified detainees and incarcerated juveniles
during a strip search or visual or physical body cavity search
be of the same sex as the person being searched, except for
physicians or licensed medical personnel.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor ongoing costs (General Fund) to local jails to comply
with the added requirement that all persons within sight of a
prearraignment detainee charged with a misdemeanor or
infraction offense be of the same sex as the person being
searched.
2)Potentially significant one-time and ongoing costs in excess
of $150,000 (General Fund*) statewide for local jails and
county juvenile facilities to comply with the protections
regarding the manner in which a strip search or body cavity
search is conducted on all detained minors and wards of the
court. According to DOJ statistics, nearly 97,000 arrests of
juveniles occurred in 2013, of which nearly 32% (30,800)
accounted for felony arrests.
3)Minor and absorbable ongoing costs (General Fund) to the CDCR
to comply with the search requirements for all minors placed
in CDCR facilities.
4)Non-reimbursable local costs for enforcement, offset to a
degree by fine revenue to the extent misdemeanor violations
are charged.
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COMMENTS: According to the author, "AB 303 will strengthen
current law regarding strip searches - which already prohibits
officers of the opposite sex to be present - and give further
clarification to prevent the unnecessary visual contact between
individuals during these procedures. This is a small but
necessary step to protect the state and federal constitutional
rights of inmates, especially those in juvenile detention
centers."
Analysis Prepared by:
Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0001804