BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2498
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PRIVACY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Ed Chau, Chair
AB 2498
(Bonta) - As Amended April 7, 2016
SUBJECT: Human trafficking
SUMMARY: Protects the names, addresses, and images of victims
of human trafficking and their immediate families from public
disclosure by a public agency. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that the names, addresses, and images of a victim of
human trafficking, and of the victim's immediate family, other
than a family member who is charged with a criminal offense
arising from the same incident, shall be withheld and remain
confidential in response to a public records request.
2)Prohibits a law enforcement agency from disclosing the names,
addresses, or images of a person who alleges to be a victim of
human trafficking, or of that alleged victim's immediate
family, unless the disclosure is made to a prosecutor, parole
officer of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
hearing officers of the parole authority, probation officers
of county probation departments, or other persons or public
agencies where authorized or required by law.
3)Defines "immediate family" for purposes of the bill to include
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any spouse, whether by marriage or not, domestic partner,
parent, child, any person related within the second degree
(i.e., sibling, grandparent/grandchild), or any other person
who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the
prior six months, regularly resided in the household.
4)Defines "sex offense" for purposes of the bill to include
human trafficking, and makes conforming changes to clarify
that a person who was forced to commit acts of prostitution
because he or she is a victim of human trafficking is the
victim of a sexual offense.
5)Adds criminal actions alleging human trafficking to the list
of criminal cases that take precedence over all other criminal
actions in the judicial trial calendar.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Generally requires, pursuant to the California Public Records
Act (CPRA), that public agencies disclose a government record
to the public upon request, unless there is a specific reason
to withhold it or if a public agency can establish that the
public interest in nondisclosure clearly outweighs the public
interest in disclosure. (Government Code (GC) Section 6250,
et seq.)
2)Exempts from disclosure under the CPRA any records relating to
an investigation conducted by a state or local law enforcement
agency or any investigatory or security files complied by any
other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement,
or licensing purposes. Specifies, however, that state and
local law enforcement agencies shall disclose the names and
addresses of persons involved in the incident, including
certain information about the victim, as specified, unless the
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disclosure would endanger the successful completion of the
investigation. (GC 6254 (f))
3)Provides, notwithstanding any disclosure required under the
investigatory exemption under the CPRA, that the name of a
victim of certain sexual crimes, including a human
trafficking, may be withheld from disclosure at the victim's
request, or at the request of the victim's parent or guardian
if the victim is a minor. (GC 6254 (f) (2))
4)Requires state and local law enforcement agencies to disclose,
subject to certain restrictions, the current address of every
individual arrested by the agency and the current address of
the victim of a crime, if the requester declares under penalty
of perjury that the request is made for a scholarly,
journalistic, political, or governmental purpose, or that the
request is made for investigation purposes by a licensed
private investigator, as defined. However, notwithstanding
this general disclosure requirement, the address of the victim
of certain sexual crimes, including human trafficking, must
remain confidential. (GC 6254 (f)(3))
5)Requires an employee of a law enforcement agency who
personally received a report from a person alleging that he or
she has been the victim of a sex offense, to inform the person
making the report that his or her name will become a matter of
public record unless he or she requests that it not become a
matter of public record. Provides that if the victim makes
this request then the law enforcement agency shall not
disclose the name of a victim. (Penal Code (PC) Section 293
(a)-(d))
6)Provides that any victim of a sexual crime who has not elected
to exercise his or her right to keep her name confidential may
request to be identified in all court records and proceedings
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as either Jane Doe or John Doe, if the court finds that such
an order is reasonably necessary to the protect the privacy of
the person and will not unduly prejudice the prosecution or
the defense. (PC 293.5)
7)Provides that certain criminal actions, especially those
involving sexual offenses, take precedence over other criminal
actions in the order of the trail calendar. (PC 1048)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill is seeks to protect the
privacy and anonymity of human trafficking victims and their
families by amending provisions of the CPRA and the Penal Code
in order to better shield the names and images of human
trafficking victims (and their families) from public
disclosure by public agencies and law enforcement. This
measure is author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "AB 2498 would
bring justice to human trafficking victims by strengthening
victim protections and by holding exploiters and buyers
accountable. Under current law, the name and address of a
human trafficking victim becomes public record unless the
victim actively requests that information remain confidential.
This bill would protect victims by ensuring that the burden
of opting-out is not placed on the victim, who may or may not
comprehend the court process or the potential outcomes of
identifying oneself, such as the risk of retaliation from an
exploiter or buyer to themselves or their family members.
Additionally, AB 2498 provides optional guidance to county
courts to hear time-sensitive trafficking cases quickly by
expanding the list of criminal actions that take precedence
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over all other criminal actions to include: human trafficking,
pimping and pandering. Currently, Penal Code Section 1048 does
not expressly direct presiding judges the option to prioritize
human trafficking cases when disposing of cases in a specified
order."
3)What is a human trafficking? Human trafficking is generally
defined as the use of force, coercion, or fraud to obtain
coerced labor or personal services. Human trafficking is
considered prevalent statewide and nationally, especially
among West Coast port cities.
According to the Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT)
Institute, reported human trafficking cases in California have
increased 86% from 2012 to 2014, with 912 reported cases
( http://www.heatwatch.org/resources/institute ). In 2014, 75%
or 685 of the 912 human trafficking cases were related to sex
trafficking. According to the author, three of the nation's
13 high-intensity child sex trafficking areas are in
California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates
human trafficking involves more than 100,000 children
nationwide.
4)CPRA . The CPRA makes all public records subject to public
inspection unless a specific provision of the CPRA or another
statute exempts the record from disclosure. One type of
record exempted under the CPRA is a criminal investigation
record, where the disclosure might endanger the success of the
investigation. However, this exemption also expressly states
that certain information about both the person arrested for
the crime and the victim of the crime must be disclosed under
certain conditions and to certain persons. Most notably, law
enforcement agencies are permitted under existing law to
disclose information to victims and their representatives,
other law enforcement agencies for specified purposes, and to
persons requesting the information for scholarly,
journalistic, political, or governmental uses.
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Existing restrictions on the ability of law enforcement or
other public agencies to disclose information about victims is
limited primarily to restrictions on disclosing the names and
addresses of minors and victims of certain enumerated
sex-related crimes. These crimes include prostitution,
pimping, solicitation, and sexual assault, as well as human
trafficking. However, existing law treats the name of the
victim somewhat differently than the address of the victim of
sexual crimes. The names of victims of sexual crimes are
usually only exempt from disclosure under the CPRA if the
victim has affirmatively requested that his or her name be
exempt. The home addresses of victims of sexual crimes are
kept confidential as a matter of course.
5)Creating stronger privacy protections for human trafficking
victims. As noted above, while existing law prohibits a law
enforcement agency from releasing the address of a victim of
certain sexual crimes, it allows the victim's name to be
released unless the victim requests the law enforcement agency
to have his or her name kept confidential.
This bill creates stronger confidentiality protections for
victims of human trafficking than those afforded to sexual
crime victims under existing law by keeping the names and
images of human trafficking victims confidential as a default
setting, which means the victim need not request to have his
or her name or image kept confidential from disclosure by a
law enforcement agency or by any agency subject to the CPRA.
In addition, the bill provides this added protection not only
to the victim, but also the victim's immediate family.
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6)Conforming changes to law . The bill also clarifies that a
person forced into committing acts of prostitution as a victim
of human trafficking is a victim of a sexual offense, and it
adds human trafficking to the list of criminal actions,
including sexual offenses, that take precedence over other
criminal actions in the trial calendar.
7)Should this bill be expanded to protect the privacy of all
sexual crime victims? This bill creates, for human
trafficking victims alone, the protection that the victim need
not request that his or her name or image be kept confidential
for that to happen.
The author and the Committee may wish to inquire as to the
author's reasoning for singling out one group of sex crime
victims over others for stronger privacy protections. And
given the sensitive nature of sex crimes as a whole and the
emotional and psychological damage that a victim might suffer
upon the release of their name or image to the public, the
author and the Committee may also wish to consider whether
this bill should give any victim of a sexual offense the same
privacy protections that this bill provides to human
trafficking victims.
8)Arguments in support . The California State Sheriffs'
Association states that while sexual assault and human
trafficking victims may currently request their names to be
withheld from public records, "this protection is not without
security flaws because victims may still be identified by
their picture, family ties or address." This bill strengthens
human trafficking victims' confidentiality by ensuring that in
addition to a victim's name, their addresses, images and
families are also excluded from the [CPRA]."
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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) states in
support of this bill that, "Traffickers use force, fraud, and
mental and physical coercion to compel victims to engage in
commercial acts of sex or labor services against their will.
According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center,
in California there were 912 human trafficking cases reported
in 2014 and of those, 75 percent were sex trafficking cases.
Under Section 293 of the Penal Code, the name and address of a
human trafficking victim becomes public record unless the
victim actively requests that the information remain
confidential. By placing the burden of opting-out on a
victim, who may or may not comprehend the process or the
potential outcomes, we put them and their family at risk of
retaliation from an exploiter or a buyer. PPAC supports
policies that will prevent human exploitation and that will
protect the identity of those who fall victim to these
crimes."
9)Double-referral . This bill was double-referred to the
Assembly Judiciary Committee where it was heard on April 5,
2016 and passed 10-0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Alameda County District Attorney
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
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California State Sheriffs' Association
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Crime Victims United of California
Fraternal Order of Police
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennie Bretschneider / P. & C.P. / (916)
319-2200
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