BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 899 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 899 (Levine) As Amended April 9, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | |----------------+------+-------------------------+------------------| |Judiciary |9-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | | | | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | | | | |Cristina Garcia, Holden, | | | | |Maienschein, O'Donnell | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Clarifies that information about a minor who is or has been the subject of juvenile dependency or wardship proceedings is confidential and can only be disclosed to specified persons, or to others designated by court order of the judge of the juvenile court upon the filing of a petition. Specifically, this bill states that it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to clarify that juvenile court records should remain confidential regardless of the juvenile's immigration status and should not be shared to or by federal authorities. EXISTING LAW: 1)Defines "juvenile case file," as a petition filed in any juvenile court proceeding, reports of the probation officer, and AB 899 Page 2 all other documents filed in that case or made available to the probation officer in making his or her report, or to the judge, referee, or other hearing officer, and thereafter retained by the probation officer, judge, referee, or other hearing officer. 2)Provides that only specified parties, including but not limited to court personnel, a district attorney, a city attorney, a minor who is the subject of the proceeding, the minor's parents or guardian, the attorneys for the parties, and "[a]ny other person who may be designated by court order of the judge of the juvenile court upon filing a petition" are authorized to inspect a juvenile "case file." 3)Provides that a juvenile case file, any portion thereof, and information relating to the content of the juvenile case file, may not be disseminated by the receiving agencies to any persons or agencies, other than those persons or agencies authorized to receive documents pursuant to this section. 4)Provides that a juvenile case file, any portion thereof, and information relating to the content of the juvenile case file, may not be made as an attachment to any other documents without the prior approval of the presiding judge of the juvenile court, unless it is used in connection with and in the course of a criminal investigation or a proceeding brought to declare a person a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court. FISCAL EFFECT: None COMMENTS: It is the express intent of the Legislature that "juvenile court records, in general, should be confidential." This presumption reflects a long recognized public policy of protecting the confidentiality of juvenile proceedings and records. (T.N.G. v. Superior Court (1971) 4 Cal.3d 767, 778.) Only those persons who are listed existing law are authorized to AB 899 Page 3 inspect records in a juvenile case file without a court order. The Legislature has reiterated its intent to protect the confidentiality of information related to juvenile court proceedings held by law enforcement agencies. Existing law provides that, "It is the intent of the Legislature to reaffirm its belief that records or information gathered by law enforcement agencies relating to the taking of a minor into custody, temporary custody, or detention (juvenile police records) should be confidential." California Rule of Court 5.552(f) requires the filing of JV-575 with the juvenile court to obtain information gathered by a law enforcement agency regarding the taking of a minor into custody. Despite the Legislature's clear intent to limit disclosure of information related to juvenile court proceedings, some entities that have or obtain the information may be circumventing these legal protections in violation of state law. Indeed, the practice of disclosing confidential juvenile information may be relatively common. For example, a 2012 advisory by the Stanford University Law School Immigrants' Rights Clinic warned about what it characterized as "the troubling practice of San Mateo County Probation Department ("Probation") disclosing confidential information about youth in the juvenile justice system to Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE")." The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is clearly prohibited by federal regulation from obtaining and using confidential information. (5 C.F.R. 2635.703(a).) The regulation forbids "'the improper use of nonpublic information to further [an employee's] own private interest... by knowing unauthorized disclosure.' Nonpublic information is defined as information the employee gains by reason of federal employment and 'knows or reasonably should know has not been made available to the general public... [or] been disseminated to the general public.' (5 C.F.R. 2635.703(b).)" (Chuyon Yon Hong v. Mukasey (9th Cir. 2008) 518 AB 899 Page 4 F.3d 1030, 1035.) Information obtained in violation of federal regulations, or state law is subject to exclusion from deportation proceedings. The United State Supreme Court has observed (in dicta) that while exclusion of illegally obtained evidence from deportation proceedings is infrequent, there are several cases where exclusion is required: when the internal regulations of the immigration agency have been violated (See INS v. Delgado (1984) 466 U.S. 210) and when there are "egregious violations of Fourth Amendment or other liberties that might transgress notions of fundamental fairness and undermine the probative value of the evidence obtained." (Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza (1984) 468 U.S. 1032, 1050-1051.) Given the clear intent of the Legislature to prohibit the disclosure and dissemination of juvenile records to persons who are not specifically authorized to obtain them, it is entirely consistent with state law, federal regulations, and federal law for this bill to prohibit the further disclosure and dissemination of confidential juvenile information by federal immigration authorities. Analysis Prepared by: Alison Merrilees / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0000107 AB 899 Page 5