BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2498
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2498 (Bonta)
As Amended August 19, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(May 19, 2016) |SENATE: |39-0 |(August 23, |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY: Protects the names, addresses, and images of victims
of human trafficking, and of their families, from public
disclosure. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes, at the request of a victim of human trafficking,
the withholding of the names and images of the victim or of
the victim's immediate family, as defined, from disclosure
under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) until the
investigation or any other subsequent prosecution is complete.
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 specified persons or
agencies.
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3)Requires law enforcement to orally inform a person who alleges
to be a victim of human trafficking or his or her right to
have his or her name, addresses, or images, or those of his or
her immediate family members withheld and kept confidential.
4)Defines "sex offense," for purposes of the Penal Code (PC)
sections amended by this 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)Authorizes the court, for good cause, to grant priority to an
action for an alleged violation of the prohibition against
human trafficking as the court, in its discretion, may
determine to be appropriate.
The Senate amendments:
1)Make the authority with holding the names and images of the
victim or victim's family upon the request of the victim and
only until the investigation or any other subsequent
prosecution is complete.
2)Require law enforcement to orally inform a person who alleges
to be a victim of human trafficking or his or her right to
have his or her name, addresses, or images, or those of his or
her immediate family members withheld and kept confidential.
3)Eliminate a provision in the prior bill that would have
expanded the list of criminal actions that take precedence
over all other criminal actions in the order of trial to
include human trafficking, and instead authorize the court,
for good cause, to grant priority to an action for an alleged
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violation of the prohibition against human trafficking as the
court, in its discretion, may determine to be appropriate.
4)Make clarifying and technical amendments.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, under the California Public Records Act, state and
local agencies to make public records available for inspection
by the public, unless another provision of the CPRA or another
statute expressly exempts the records from the disclosure
requirement. (Government Code 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 agency, for law enforcement or licensing
purposes. Specifies, however, that law enforcement agencies
shall disclose the names and addresses of persons involved in
the incident, including information about the victim, unless
the disclosure would endanger the successful completion of the
investigation. (Government Code Section 6254 (f).)
3)Provides, notwithstanding any required disclosure in 2) above,
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. (Government Code Section
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 made for
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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, shall remain
confidential. (Government Code Section 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 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
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. (Penal Code Section 293.5.)
7)Gives certain criminal actions, especially those involving
sexual offenses, precedence over other criminal actions in the
order of the trail calendar. (Penal Code Section 1048.)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Law enforcement agency mandates: Potential state-reimbursable
costs (General Fund) to orally inform alleged victims of their
right to have their information, and the information of their
immediate family members, kept confidential, as well as to
redact information from police reports regarding the victims
and their families once the investigation or prosecution is
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complete (as this information would be exempt from disclosure
under the CPRA during this period, potential state
reimbursement is only projected after the disclosure exemption
under the CPRA has elapsed). The Commission on State Mandates
(CSM) previously determined specified provisions of PC Section
293 constituted a reimbursable state mandate (Sex Crime
Confidentiality, 98-TC-21), including but not limited to the
requirement to inform an alleged victim that his or her name
will become a matter of public record unless otherwise
requested, and to redact victim information from public
records.
2)CPRA exemption: Minor ongoing non-reimbursable local agency
costs (Local Funds) and state agency costs (General Fund) for
additional records exemptions from the CPRA that could incur
new workload for redaction.
3)Court calendaring: Potential minor ongoing workload impact to
add human trafficking to the list of types of criminal cases
provided a calendaring preference.
COMMENTS: This bill amends provisions in both the California
Public Records Act (CPRA) and the Penal Code in order to better
shield the names, addresses, and images of human trafficking
victims (and of their families) from public disclosure. This
bill does so by building upon victim confidentiality provisions
in existing law.
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. Records exempted under the
CPRA include those relating to a criminal investigation, 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
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information for scholarly, journalistic, political, or
governmental uses. 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.
Under this bill, the confidentiality protections for victims of
human trafficking would be greater than that afforded to victims
of sexual crimes under existing law. For example, whereas
existing law protects the names and addresses of certain
sex-crime victims from public disclosure, this bill protects the
names, addresses, and images of victims from public disclosure.
In addition, this added protection applies not only to the
victim, but also to the names, addresses, and images of the
victim's family. This bill would also require law enforcement
to orally inform a person who alleges that he or she is a victim
of human trafficking of his or her right to have names,
addresses, and images of the victim, and of the victim's family,
withheld and kept confidential. According to the author, these
added protections for victims of human trafficking are necessary
because of their precarious position and greater vulnerability
to retaliation against them (and their families) by the
perpetrators of human trafficking. Finally, this bill would
authorize the court, for good cause, to grant priority to an
action for an alleged violation of the prohibition against human
trafficking as the court, in its discretion, may determine to be
appropriate.
Analysis Prepared by:
Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0004778
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