BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 636
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|Author: |Medina |
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|Version: |April 29, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: June 10, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Postsecondary education: student safety
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Public Safety. A "do pass" motion should include
referral to the Committee on Public Safety.
SUMMARY
This bill requires postsecondary education institutions to
disclose to law enforcement the identity of an alleged assailant
if the institution determines that the alleged assailant
represents a serious or ongoing threat to the safety of the
campus community and the immediate assistance of law enforcement
is necessary.
BACKGROUND
Existing federal law requires, under Title IX and the Jeanne
Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime
Statistics Act (Clery Act), colleges and universities, as a
condition of federal student aid program participation, to:
1)Publish annual campus security reports, maintain crime logs,
provide timely warnings of crimes that present a public safety
risk, and maintain ongoing crime statistics.
2)Establish certain rights for victims of sexual assault,
including notification to victims of legal rights,
availability of counselling, the results of disciplinary
proceedings, safety options for victims, and offering
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prevention and awareness programs.
(United States Code, Title 20 §1681-1688, and §1092(f))
Existing state law:
1)Requires the governing board of each community college
district, the Trustees of the California State University, the
Regents of the University of California, and the governing
boards of independent postsecondary education institutions
receiving public funds for student financial assistance to
require the appropriate officials at each campus to compile
records of all occurrences reported to the campus of, and
arrests for, crimes that are committed on campus that involve
violence, hate violence, theft, destruction of property,
illegal drugs, or alcohol intoxication. (Education Code §
67380)
2)Requires any report made by a victim or an employee regarding
specified violent crimes, sexual assault, or a hate crime
which is received by a campus security authority and has been
made by the victim for purposes of notifying the institution
or law enforcement, to be disclosed immediately, or as soon as
practicably possible, to the local law enforcement agency with
which the institution has a written agreement clarifying
operational responsibilities for investigations. (EC § 67380)
3)Prohibits the report from identifying the victim without his
or her consent, and if the victim does not consent, the
alleged assailant also shall not be identified.
(EC § 67380)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires postsecondary education institutions to
disclose to law enforcement the identity of an alleged assailant
if the institution makes specified determinations.
Specifically, this bill.
1)Adds an exception to the prohibition on the disclosure to law
enforcement of the identity of an alleged assailant in cases
where the victim does not consent to being identified, to
require postsecondary education institutions to disclose the
identity of the alleged assailant to local law enforcement if
the institution determines both of the following:
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a) The alleged assailant represents a serious or
ongoing threat to the safety of students, employees, or the
institution.
b) The immediate assistance of the local law
enforcement agency is necessary to contact or detain the
assailant.
2)Requires the institution to immediately inform the victim of the
disclosure.
3)Applies to the University of California, California State
University, California Community Colleges, and any
postsecondary educational institution receiving public funds
for student financial aid.
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "In response to
concerns that California university campus administrators were
underreporting sexual assaults and mishandling cases in
several ways, the Education Code was amended last year to
require campuses to pass along reports of Part 1 violent
crimes, sexual assaults and hate crimes that occur on campus
to local law enforcement agencies. The goal of the
requirement was to improve the working relationship between
campuses and local police and sheriffs' departments, which
could result in more thorough investigations, better outcomes
for victims, and safer communities. Under the requirement,
victims were provided the authority to have their identity
withheld from the report to law enforcement. In such cases,
institutions would also be prohibited from identifying the
alleged assailant. Earlier this year, concerns were raised
that providing the victim exclusive control over withholding
the alleged assailants name from law enforcement could inhibit
the ability of university officials to protect the campus
community."
2)What types of crimes? This bill applies to the following crimes:
a) Part 1 violent crimes, which includes willful homicide,
forcible rape, robbery, or aggravated assault.
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b) Sexual assault, including but not be limited to, rape,
forced sodomy, forced oral copulation, rape by a foreign
object, sexual battery, or the threat of any of these.
c) Hate crimes, as described in Penal Code § 422.55.
1)Confidentiality. The United States Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights issued questions and answers relative
to Title IX and sexual assault. This document states:
"For Title IX purposes, if a student requests that his or her name
not be revealed to the alleged perpetrator or asks that the
school not investigate or seek action against the alleged
perpetrator, the school should inform the student that
honoring the request may limit its ability to respond fully to
the incident, including pursuing disciplinary action against
the alleged perpetrator. The school should also explain that
Title IX includes protections against retaliation, and that
school officials will not only take steps to prevent
retaliation but also take strong responsive action if it
occurs.
"If the student still requests that his or her name not be
disclosed to the alleged perpetrator or that the school not
investigate or seek action against the alleged perpetrator,
the school will need to determine whether or not it can honor
such a request while still providing a safe and
nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including the
student who reported [the crime]."
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-201404-title-
ix.pdf (pages 18-22).
Title IX allows an institution to override the confidentiality
wishes of a victim in some instances. The institution may
weigh the request for confidentiality against its obligation
to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all
students, including the victim. In contrast, existing
California law gives the victim exclusive control over whether
the alleged assailant's identify is disclosed to law
enforcement.
This bill does not require the disclosure of the victim's identity
to law enforcement.
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2)Fiscal impact. This bill is keyed as non-fiscal.
3)Related and prior legislation. AB 913 (Santiago, 2015) requires
the written jurisdictional agreements between postsecondary
education institutions and local law enforcement regarding
responsibility for investigating specified violent crimes to
also make a designation with respect to the investigation of
sexual assaults and hate crimes. AB 913 is pending referral
in the Senate Rules Committee.
AB 1433 (Gatto, Ch. 798, Statutes of 2014) requires the governing
board of each public, private and independent postsecondary
educational institution, which receives public funds for
student financial assistance, to adopt and implement written
policies and procedures governing the reporting of specified
crimes to law enforcement agencies. AB 1433 also prohibits
the disclosure of the alleged assailant's identity to law
enforcement if the victim does not consent to being
identified.
SUPPORT
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California Narcotic Officers Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Rancho Santiago Community College District
Riverside Sheriffs Association
OPPOSITION
University of California Student Association
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