BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 110
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
110 (Fuller)
As Amended June 23, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 36-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Quirk, Melendez, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
SB 110
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| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Makes it an alternate felony-misdemeanor offense for
any person to willfully threaten unlawful violence that will
result in death or great bodily injury to occur on the grounds
of a school, as defined, where the threat creates a disruption
at the school. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that any person who, by any means, including, but not
limited to, by means of an electronic act, willfully threatens
unlawful violence that will result in death or great bodily
injury to occur upon the grounds of a school with the specific
intent that the statement be taken as a threat, even if there
is no intent of carrying it out, and where the threat, on its
face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so
unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to
convey a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of
execution of the threat, and that threat creates a disruption
at the school, is guilty of a misdemeanor or a county-jail
eligible felony.
2)Specifies that this bill does not preclude or prohibit
prosecution under any other law.
3)Defines "disruption" as an interference with peaceful
activities of the campus or facility.
4)Provides that "electronic act" has the same meaning as is
found in relevant sections of the Education Code.
5)Defines "school" to mean a state preschool, a private or
public elementary, middle, vocational, junior high, or high
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school, a community college, a public or private university,
or a location where a school-sponsored event is or will be
taking place.
EXISTING LAW:
1)States that any person who willfully threatens to commit a
crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to
another person, with the specific intent that the statement,
made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic
communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if
there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its
face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so
unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to
convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an
immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby
causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his
or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety,
shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to
exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison.
2)States that any person who knowingly and willingly threatens
the life of, or threatens serious bodily harm to, any elected
public official, as specified, or the staff or immediate
family of any of the specified elected public officials, with
the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a
threat, and the apparent ability to carry out that threat by
any means, is guilty of a public offense, punishable as either
a misdemeanor or felony, as specified.
3)Provides that any person who knowingly threatens to use a
weapon of mass destruction with the specific intent that the
statement as defined or a statement made by means of an
electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat,
even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which
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on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made,
is so unequivocal, immediate, and specific as to convey to the
person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate
prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that
person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own
safety shall be punished by either a misdemeanor or felony, as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Likely minor General Fund costs for increased state prison
commitments for persons with a current or prior violent felony
conviction who are convicted for a felony under the provisions
of this bill. The universe of these individuals is expected
to be very small. Assuming the annual contracted bed rate of
$29,000 per inmate, the annual General Fund costs would be
$29,000 per each additional year served under such conviction.
2)Moderate nonreimbursable local costs for incarceration for
misdemeanor convictions or for felony convictions of
individuals without a current or prior violent felony.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "The threat of violence in
California schools and colleges through social media or other
electronic communication is a problem. These threats not only
instill fear and force the cancellation of classes and building
closures, but they can cost school districts considerable funds.
This includes the cost to investigate and prosecute
perpetrators, to hire additional safety personnel to observe
student activities and Web sites, and to purchase surveillance
equipment to monitor non-classroom areas. The impact expands
beyond the incidence, and hinders the learning environment.
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"Roughly 30% of violent threats made against schools were
delivered through social media, email, text messaging and other
electronic means from August 2013 to January 2014. It is
believed this percentage has increased and will continue to
rise. These electronic threats include school bomb threats,
shooting threats, hoaxes, and acts of violence.
"SB 110 simply assists law enforcement and the courts by holding
those accountable who make violent threats against a school by
an electronic act, when those threats interfere with the
activities of the campus or facility.
"SB 110 is needed to address a new trend and to update our Penal
Code to reflect modern technology. SB 110 will protect our
children and hold individuals accountable who have stricken fear
and confusion into our classrooms."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0001266