BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 899|
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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 899
          Author:   Levine (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/9/15 in Assembly
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  5-2, 6/23/15
           AYES:  Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
           NOES:  Anderson, Stone

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-1, 4/16/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Juveniles:  confidentiality of records


          SOURCE:    Immigrant Legal Resource Center


          DIGEST:  This bill enacts a new statute explicitly stating that  
          declaratory of existing law, confidential juvenile files cannot  
          be disclosed to federal officials absent a court order, as  
          specified.


          ANALYSIS:   


          Existing law:


          1)Defines a "juvenile case file" as a petition filed in any  
            juvenile court proceeding, reports of the probation officer,  
            and all other documents filed in that case or made available  
            to the probation officer in making his or her report, or to  








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            the judge, referee, or other hearing officer, and thereafter  
            retained by the probation officer, judge, referee, or other  
            hearing officer.  (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 827(e).  
             All statutory references are to the Welfare & Institutions  
            Code, unless otherwise indicated.)


          2)Requires that the "order and findings of the superior court in  
            each case [under the provisions of this chapter] shall be  
            entered in a suitable book or other form of written record  
            which shall be kept for that purpose and known as the  
            'juvenile court record.'"  (Section 825.)


          3)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."  (Section  
            827(a).)


          4)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.   
            (Section 827(a)(1)(P)(4).)


          5)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.  (Section 827(a)(1)(P)(4).)


          6)Allows the disclosure of any information gathered by a law  
            enforcement agency, including the Department of Justice,  







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            relating to the taking of a minor into custody (including  
            disposition information about juvenile court proceedings) to  
            be disclosed to another law enforcement agency or to any  
            person or agency which has a legitimate need for the  
            information for purposes of official disposition of a case.   
            (Section 828(a).)


          7)Provides that when a petition is sustained for one of the  
            serious or violent offenses listed in Section 676 subdivision  
            (a), specified documents in the juvenile court file (and no  
            others) are available for public inspection: the charging  
            petition, the minutes of the proceeding, and the orders of  
            adjudication and disposition of the court.  (Section 676(d).)


          This bill:


          1)States legislative intent "to clarify that juvenile court  
            records should remain confidential regardless of the  
            juvenile's immigration status. Confidentiality is integral to  
            the operation of the juvenile justice system in order to avoid  
            stigma and promote rehabilitation for all youth, regardless of  
            immigration status." 


          2)Provides that "(n)othing in this article authorizes the  
            disclosure of juvenile information to federal officials absent  
            a court order of the judge of the juvenile court upon filing a  
            petition as provided by subparagraph (P) of paragraph (1) of  
            subdivision (a) of Section 827." 


          3)Provides that "(n)othing in this article authorizes the  
            dissemination of juvenile information to, or by, federal  
            officials absent a court order of the judge of the juvenile  
            court upon filing a petition as provided by subparagraph (P)  
            of paragraph (1) and paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of  
            Section 827." 


          4)Provides that "(n)othing in this article authorizes the  
            attachment of juvenile information to any other documents  







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            given to, or provided by, federal officials absent prior  
            approval of the presiding judge of the juvenile court as  
            provided by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 827." 


          5)States that for "purposes of this section, "juvenile  
            information" includes the "juvenile case file," as defined in  
            subdivision (e) of Section 827, and information related to the  
            juvenile, including, but not limited to, name, date or place  
            of birth, and the immigration status of the juvenile that is  
            obtained or created independent of, or in connection with,  
            juvenile court proceedings about the juvenile and maintained  
            by any government agency, including, but not limited to, a  
            court, probation office, child welfare agency, or law  
            enforcement agency." 


          6)States that "(n)othing in this section shall be construed as  
            authorizing any disclosure that would otherwise violate this  
            article."


          7)States that "the Legislature finds and declares that this  
            section is declaratory of existing law."


          8)Includes uncodified legislative intent language "that juvenile  
            records remain confidential in order to serve the compelling  
            interest of avoiding stigma and promoting rehabilitation for  
            juveniles. It is not the intent of the Legislature to attempt  
            to resist federal officials."


          Background


          Existing legislative intent states that "juvenile court records,  
          in general, should be confidential."  (Section 827(b)(1).)  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 in Section 827 are authorized  
          to inspect records in a juvenile case file without a court  
          order.  The juvenile court has exclusive authority to determine  







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          the extent to which confidential juvenile records may be  
          released and, if it grants a petition, also has exclusive  
          control over "the time, place and manner of inspection."  (In re  
          Gina S. (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 1074, 1081-1082.)  Parties who  
          are authorized to inspect the juvenile court file are not  
          automatically authorized to copy documents in the file.  (Id, at  
          p. 1082.)  The juvenile court has the authority to not only deny  
          disclosure of juvenile court records, but also to order the  
          return of all copies of juvenile case file documents.  (Id, at  
          p. 1084-85.)  The juvenile court, not the person who is in  
          possession of juvenile court records, has the authority to  
          decide to whom juvenile court records may lawfully be released.   
          (In re Keisha T. (1995) 38 Cal. App. 4th 220, 234.)


          These protections extend to law enforcement agencies that are  
          not directly connected to the juvenile court.  The fact that  
          information is stored within a law enforcement record is  
          irrelevant to the issue of confidentiality because law  
          enforcement records about juveniles "become equivalent to court  
          records and remain under the control of the juvenile court."   
          (T.N.G., supra, 4 Cal. 3d at 781; see also Cal. Ct. Rule  
          5.552(a)(4) [providing that the juvenile case file includes  
          "[d]ocuments relating to a child concerning whom a petition has  
          been filed in juvenile court that are maintained in the office  
          files of probation officers"].)  Even documents that relate to  
          minors who are not detained are subject to the protections of  
          Section 827.  (People v. Espinoza (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 1287,  
          1315; Wescott v. County of Yuba (1980) 104 Cal. App. 3d 103,  
          108.)  The court in Westcott reasoned that disclosure of  
          information about a law enforcement encounter with juveniles was  
          inappropriate because of "[t]he stigma and ridicule which could  
          occur if a third party is given the report," which outweighed  
          the interests of the requester.  (Wescott v. County of Yuba,  
          supra, at p. 108.)  "The mere fact that the minors, in this  
          case, were not taken into formal custody does not reduce the  
          potentially harmful effect the release of the police report  
          could have on them.  (Ibid.)


          The Legislature has reiterated its intent to protect the  
          confidentiality of information related to juvenile court  
          proceedings held by law enforcement agencies.  Section 827.9  
          provides that, "It is the intent of the Legislature to reaffirm  







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          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.  


          According to the author, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs  
          Enforcement (ICE) "issued 211 detainers for youth in juvenile  
          detention centers in California [during a 21 month period] in  
          Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013 [http://trac.syr.edu.] . . .  This  
          means that at a minimum, 211 breaches of confidentiality  
          occurred during the reporting period.  These numbers do not,  
          however, reflect all violations of confidentiality since many  
          youth who are reported to ICE do not receive a detainer.   
          Accordingly, it is likely that far more than 211 violations of  
          juvenile confidentiality occurred." 


          ICE appears to be 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  
          F.3d 1030, 1035.) 


          Information obtained in violation of federal regulations or  
          state law is subject to exclusion from deportation proceedings.   
          The United States 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  







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          evidence obtained." (Immigration & Naturalization Service v.  
          Lopez-Mendoza (1984) 468 U.S. 1032, 1050-1051.)   


          According to the author, "the issues addressed by the bill are  
          the subject of two pending appeals in the First Appellate  
          District: The People v. Y.V., No. A142355 (Cal. App. 1st Dist.  
          filed July 1, 2014); The People v. C.H., No. A141758 (Cal. App.  
          1st Dist. filed May 1, 2014).  This bill will clarify that the  
          probation department cannot disclose confidential juvenile  
          information to federal immigration officials without going  
          through the petitioning process in § 827, as it failed to do in  
          both cases."   


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified6/23/15)


          Immigrant Legal Resource Center (source)
          Anti-Defamation League
          Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
          Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
          Bay Area Industrial Areas Foundation
          California Civil Rights Law Group
          California Conference for Equality and Justice
          California Immigrant Policy Center
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          Canal Alliance
          Catholic Charities of the East Bay
          Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Inc.
          Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
          Central American Resource Center
          Centro Legal de la Raza
          Chinese for Affirmative Action
          Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action
          Community United Against Violence
          Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
          Dolores Street Community Services
          Drug Policy Alliance
          East Bay Community Law Center







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          Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
          Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar  
          of California Fools Mission
          Huckleberry Youth Programs
          Immigration Center for Women and Children
          International Institute of the Bay Area
          Juvenile Court Judges of California
          Larkin Street Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
          Legal Advocates for Children and Youth
          Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
          Legal Services for Children
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
          National Center for Lesbian Rights
          National Center for Youth Law
          National Day Laborer Organizing Network
          National Immigration Law Center
          Pangea Legal Services
          Prison Law Office
          Public Counsel
          Sacramento Public Defender
          San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program
          San Francisco Public Defender
          Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color
          Santa Clara Public Defender
          Silicon Valley De-Bug
          Social Justice Collaborative
          UCI Law Clinic Immigrant Rights Clinic
          Urban Peace Movement
          The W. Haywood Burns Institute
          Youth Law Center


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified6/23/15)


          None received


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     

          The author states:


               The purpose of this bill is to protect minors from  







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               improper disclosures of their juvenile records,  
               regardless of their immigration status. Under existing  
               California law, juvenile court case files of dependent  
               children and wards are to be kept confidential, except  
               from certain specified parties or pursuant to a court  
               order upon filing a petition in juvenile court. 


               Although current California law does not exempt  
               federal officials, including immigration officials,  
               from having to petition the court to obtain juvenile  
               case information and files, many local counties  
               disagree, citing that there is no explicit statement  
               in state law that federal officials must follow this  
               process.  Consequently, some local and state agencies  
               are automatically sharing information with federal  
               immigration officials, without following the procedure  
               enumerated in California Welfare & Institutions Code §  
               827, which requires filing a separate petition with  
               the juvenile court requesting the files.


               This is problematic because the petitioning procedure  
               in Welfare & Institutions Code § 827 recognizes that  
               juvenile courts have exclusive authority to determine  
               the extent to which juvenile records should be  
               released to third parties given the court's  
               sensitivity and expertise in this area.  Further, the  
               procedure provides the minor, his/her parents and  
               his/her attorney (among others) the opportunity to  
               contest the sharing of confidential information that  
               may be contrary to his/her rehabilitation and best  
               interests.


               This bill makes absolutely clear that federal  
               officials, like all other parties seeking access to  
               juvenile court files who are not actively involved in  
               the proceedings, must file a petition pursuant to  
               Welfare & Institutions Code § 827 in order to request  
               access to a youth's juvenile case file.

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-1, 4/16/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  







                                                                     AB 899  
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            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,  
            Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,  
            Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell,  
            Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,  
            Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,  
            Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NOES:  Gallagher
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Beth Gaines, Obernolte, Quirk

          Prepared by:Alison Anderson / PUB. S. / 
          6/24/15 19:00:49


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