BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2263
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 2263
(Baker) - As Amended March 30, 2016
PROPOSED CONSENT
SUBJECT: Protection of reproductive health care providers:
address confidentiality
KEY ISSUE: Should the Address confidentiality that existing law
provides to "Safe aT Home" ParticIpants who are patients,
employees, or volunteers at a reproductive health center, be the
same as that provided to participants who are in the program as
victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual abuse?
SYNOPSIS
California's "Safe at Home" (SAH) program allows survivors of
domestic violence, stalking, sexual abuse, and elder and
dependent adult abuse, as well as patients, employees, and
volunteers of reproductive health centers, to participate in a
program that allows state and local agencies to respond to
requests for public records without disclosing the participant's
home address. A program participant may request that state and
local agencies, when creating a public record concerning the
participant, use an address designated by the Secretary of State
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(SOS). As recently amended this bill, according to the author,
makes a modest correction to a discrepancy in how the existing
SAH statutory framework treats persons who are enrolled in the
program because of their status as victims of domestic violence,
stalking, and sexual abuse, on the one hand, and those who are
enrolled in the program because of their status as patients,
employees, or volunteers at a reproductive health center, on the
other hand. In addition to the restrictions on disclosures by
public agencies that are afforded to both groups, the Government
Code sections covering victims of domestic violence, stalking,
and sexual assault provide an additional restriction, under
certain circumstances, on the ability of a private person,
business, or association to disclose the SAH participant's home
address. These restrictions on private persons, businesses, and
associations are not similarly situated in the Government Code
sections covering patients, employees, and volunteers of
reproductive health care centers. Although quite similar
protections are afforded to patients and reproductive health
care providers in other statutes, based on conversations with
Legislative Counsel, the author believes that this bill will
make clearer the legislative intent to treat both groups the
same. This author-sponsored bill is supported by law
enforcement and victims' rights groups, and Planned Parenthood.
There is no opposition to this bill. This bill will be referred
to the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection
should it pass out of this Committee. The author has indicated
to the Committee that she will continue to work on providing
more substantive provisions that will afford more meaningful
protections to all SAH program participants, both in the next
committee and as the bill moves forward. Thus while this bill
is a work in progress, the modest and non-controversial change
that the bill makes to existing law warrants placing the bill on
consent for purposes of this hearing.
SUMMARY: Seeks to bring uniformity to the confidentiality
protections for Safe at Home (SAH) program participants,
regardless of whether their participation is based on their
status as victims of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual
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assault, or whether it is based on their status as a patient,
employee, or volunteer at a reproductive health care clinic.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that no person, business, or association shall
publicly post or display on the Internet the address of an SAH
program participant, as specified, who has made a written
demand of that person, business, or association to not
disclose the home address of the program participant.
2)Provides that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly post the home address of a an SAH program
participant, as specified, or of the program participant's
residing spouse or child, on the Internet, knowing that person
is a program participant and intending to cause imminent great
bodily harm or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm
to the program participant or his or her residing spouse or
child.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Safe at Home (SAH) address confidentiality
program within the office of the Secretary of State (SOS).
This program allows state and local agencies to accept a
substitute address designated by the SOS in lieu of an actual
home address and requires the agency to request for public
records without disclosing the address of a victim of domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking, or elder or dependent
adult abuse. Permits any such adult victim, or parent or
guardian acting on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person,
to apply through a specified program to have an address
designated by the SOS as his or her substitute mailing
address. (Government Code Section 6205 et seq. Unless
otherwise stated, all further statutory references are to that
code.)
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2)Similarly, allows reproductive health care providers,
employees, volunteers, and patients to participate in the SAH
address confidentiality program, as specified. (Section 6215
et seq.)
3)Requires the SOS to certify a successful applicant as a
program participant for four years following the date of
filing, unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated
before that date, except reproductive health care services
facilities volunteers shall be certified until six months from
the last date of volunteering with the facility. (Sections
6206 (c), 6215.2 (e).)
4)Specifies that, once certified, the SAH participant may
request that a state or local agency, when creating a public
record, use a substitute address designated by the SOS in lieu
of the person's residential or work address, except as
specified. (Sections 6206 and 6207.)
5)Provides that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly and intentionally publicly post or publicly display
on the Internet the home address, home telephone number, or
image of a program participant or other individuals residing
at the same home address with the intent to threaten the
participant or cause the participant, or co-resident, harm, as
specified. (Section 6208.1.)
6)Prohibits the SOS from disclosing a program participant's name
change or address, other than the designated address, unless
it is requested by, and disclosed to, law enforcement, or
directed by a court, or if the participant's certification has
been canceled. (Sections 6206, 6206.4 and 6208.)
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7)Requires that any records or documents pertaining to a program
participant shall be retained and held confidential for a
period of three years after termination of a certification and
then destroyed. (Section 6206.5 (e).)
8)Permits the confidentiality program manager to terminate a
program participant's certification for specified reasons,
including if the program manager determines that the
information used in the application process was used as a
subterfuge to avoid detection of illegal activity or
apprehension by law enforcement. (Section 6206.7 (b).)
9)Prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly
posting or displaying on the Internet the home address, home
telephone number, or image of any provider, employee,
volunteer, or patient of a reproductive health service
facility, with the intent to incite a third person to cause
imminent bodily harm to a person protected by this provision.
Permits a person whose personal information is posted to bring
an action for injunctive relief of damages, as specified.
Provides that no person shall post or display on the Internet
any personal information about a person protected by this
provision if the person has requested that the information be
removed, as specified. (Section 6218.)
10)Provides that no local or state agency shall post the home
address or telephone number of an elected or appointed
official on the Internet without that official's prior
consent. Makes it a crime for any person to knowingly post
the home address or phone number of an official on the
Internet knowing that the person is an elected or appointed
official and with the intent to cause imminent bodily harm.
Provides that a violation of this provision is a misdemeanor,
and that a violation that results in bodily injury to the
official or a family member is a felony. Provides that no
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person shall post or display on the Internet the home address
or telephone number of an elected or appointed official if
that official has made a written demand that the information
be removed. (Section 6254.21.)
11)Provides that any person who maliciously, and with the intent
to obstruct justice, or with the intent or threat to inflict
imminent physical harm in retaliation for the due
administration of laws, publishes, disseminates, or otherwise
discloses the residence address or telephone number of any
peace officer, public safety officer, employee of a police
department or sheriff's office, or the spouse or children of
such person, is guilty of a misdemeanor. If a violation of
this provision results in injury to the protected person or
his or her family, then the person who violates this provision
is guilty of a felony. (Penal Code Section 146e.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS: The California Public Records Act (PRA) requires
state and local agencies to make public records available for
inspection and copying by members of the public, unless the
records are expressly exempted from disclosure by express
provisions of the PRA or some other statute. One such exemption
includes participants in the Safe At Home (SAH) program, which
is intended to keep the home addresses of program participants
confidential. Though restricted to victims of domestic violence
when first established in 1998, the program has since expanded
to include victims of stalking and sexual assault, patients,
employees, and volunteers of reproductive health centers, and
victims of elder and dependent adult abuse. In addition,
existing law provides similar protections for elected and
appointed officials and law enforcement officers. These
programs protect participants by preventing their abusers, or
others who might wish to cause them harm, from discovering the
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participant's home address.
The SAH program works by allowing program participants to use a
substitute, publicly disclosable address, in lieu of the actual
home address, whenever an address is required by a public agency
for an official purpose. Specifically, under Government Code
sections 6205-6210 and 6215-6216, SAH program participants
receive a designated address from the Secretary of State (SOS) -
typically a post office box - and the participant may then
demand that a state or local agency use this substitute address
as the participant's official address. Any correspondence from
the agency to the participant is sent to the designated address,
and the SOS forwards it to the participant's actual and
confidential address. In addition, the SOS is also designated
to receive legal notices and service of process on the
participant's behalf. Agencies must accept the SOS address and
use it when creating, or disclosing, public records. The SAH
program recognizes that some agencies may require the actual
home address for a bona fide statutory or administrative
purpose. In that case, the agency may retain the home address
in its records; however, the agency may only use the home
address for that bona fide purpose and is prohibited from
publicly disseminating the home address of an SAH participant.
(See e.g. Government Code Section 6207 (a)(2) and (b)(2) and
Section 6215.5 (a)(2) and (b)(2).)
To be eligible to become an SAH program participant, an
individual, living in California, must file an application
containing a sworn statement that the applicant has good reason
to believe that he or she, or his or her minor child, has been a
victim of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or elder
or dependent adult abuse, or that he or she is a patient,
employee, or volunteer of a reproductive health center, and that
he or she fears for his or her safety or the safety of a child.
The applicant must also include a police report or some other
appropriate evidence indicating the applicant's eligibility.
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Purpose of Bill: As recently amended, this bill, according to
the author, makes a modest correction to a potential discrepancy
in the way that the existing SAH framework treats persons who
are enrolled in the program because of their status as victims
of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual abuse, on the one
hand, and those who are enrolled in the program because of their
status as patients, employees, or volunteers at a reproductive
health care center, on the other hand. In addition to the
restrictions on disclosures by public agencies that are afforded
to both groups, the Government Code sections covering victims of
domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault provide an
additional restriction, under certain circumstances, on the
ability of private persons, business, and associations to
disclose the SAH participant's home address. Specifically,
existing law prohibits a private person, business, or
association from posting or displaying on the Internet the home
address of an SAH participant if the participant has demanded
that the person, business, or association remove the home
address. In addition, existing law prohibits a person,
business, or association from posting the SAH participant's home
address online with the knowledge and intent, as specified, to
cause that person imminent harm.
Although quite similar protections are already afforded to
patients and reproductive health care providers in other
statutes, the author believes, based on conversations with
Legislative Counsel, that situating these protections within the
existing SAH statutory framework, in the manner provided by this
bill, will make clearer a legislative intent to provide both
groups with the same protections.
Past Amendments and Probable Future Amendments: The author has
indicated to the Committee that she will continue to work on
strengthening this bill by providing more substantive provisions
that will afford more meaningful address confidentiality
protections to all SAH program participants as the bill moves
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forward. According to the author, this bill was prompted by the
experience of a constituent who, despite being an SAH
participant and a victim of domestic violence, discovered that
her home address was nonetheless posted online and discovered by
her abuser. The constituent apparently learned from a county
assessor that the address may have been sold to, or otherwise
legally obtained, by private data brokers who post addresses,
and much other personal information, online. An earlier
iteration of the bill, therefore, would have prohibited a county
assessor from selling or otherwise disclosing the home addresses
to the general public. However, after extensive discussions
with various stakeholders, including the county recorders and
county assessors, the author determined that the problem was
more complicated than initially assumed and that the bill as
introduced might not have addressed the underlying problem. As
the bill moves forward, the author is committed to working with
all stakeholders to devise practical and workable solutions to a
very real problem: that notwithstanding the admirable work that
the SAH program has done in serving more than 7,000 persons
since its inception in 1999, there apparently remain a number of
deficiencies that allow a participant's home address to be
disclosed to persons who might cause them harm.
Nonetheless, while this bill is a work in progress, the modest
and non-controversial change that the bill before this Committee
makes to existing law warrants placing the bill on consent for
purposes of this hearing. Should the bill be significantly
amended, the Committee would, as it always does, reserve the
right to bring the bill back to the Committee for a full hearing
on those amendments.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, this bill
"closes a loophole in the Safe At Home Program to protect
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking." AB
2263, supporters believe, would allow Safe At Home Program
participants to benefit from the same protections that are
afforded elected and appointed officials and public safety
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officers under Government Code Section 6254.21.
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) adds that the
Safe at Home Program has helped over 7,000 survivors. PPAC
writes: "victims of domestic violence and other Californians
intended to be protected by Safe At Home can be found by
perpetrators who go to the Assessor's Office to locate them and
track them down." PPAC notes that AB 2263 will close the
loophole to protect victims. Several other local and regional
Planned Parenthood organizations support this bill for similar
reasons.
In agreement with the author and PPAC, California State
Sheriffs' Association (CSSA) writes: "AB 2263 addresses a
deficiency in existing law and reassures victims that their
private home addresses cannot be accessed by the general
public."
It should be noted that the letters in support primary address
the bill as introduced or other proposed amendments to bill.
Nonetheless, the support seems to be in agreement that the
existing system has deficiencies that need to be addressed in
order to provide more meaningful protections.
Prior Related Legislation: AB 849 (Chapter 676, Stats. of 2013)
extended "Safe at Home" protection to victims of elder and
dependent adult abuse.
SB 1082 (Chapter 270, Stats. of 2012) required prospective
participants of the "Safe at Home" program to be domiciled in
California in order to apply to the program, authorizes a minor
program participant, who reaches 18 years of age during his or
her enrollment, to renew as an adult, and modifies the Secretary
of State authority to terminate a program participant's
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certification, as specified.
SB 636 (Chapter 200, Stats. of 2011), enhanced the protections
for participants in the Safe at Home program, including
prohibiting publicly posting or displaying on the Internet, or
soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet, specified
personal information of the program participant.
SB 1233 (Chapter 326, Stats. of 2010) removed the sunset date
for the Safe at Home program and required that the name change
records for the program participants be permanently retained.
AB 2304 (Chapter 586, Stats. of 2008) required courts to keep
confidential the current legal name of the petitioner and
prohibited the court from publishing that name by any means or
in any public forum when the petition for name change is by a
participant in the address confidentiality program.
SB 1062 (Chapter 639, Stats. of 2006) extended the protections
of the Safe at Home program to victims of sexual assault.
AB 797 (Chapter 380, Stats. of 2002) extended the protections of
the Safe at Home program to reproductive health care service
providers and their employees, volunteers, and patients.
SB 1318 (Chapter 562, Stats. of 2000) extended the protections
of the Safe at Home program to victims of stalking, and revised
procedures relating to terminating the certification of
participants.
SB 489 (Chapter 1005, Stats. of 1998) established the Safe at
Home program for victims of domestic violence and allowed for
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voter record and marriage application confidentiality as well as
address confidentiality.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California State Sheriffs' Association
Crime Victims United of California
Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San
Bernardino Counties
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Alexandria Smith-Davis and Thomas Clark/
JUD. / (916) 319-2334