BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 448
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Date of Hearing: August 10, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 448
(Hueso) - As Amended August 1, 2016
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|Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires a person convicted of a felony, on or after
January 1, 2017, for which the person is required to register as
a sex offender, to register his or her Internet identifiers, as
defined, to law enforcement. Also, persons subject to the
bill's provisions are required to send written notice to the law
enforcement agency or agencies with which he or she is currently
registered when he or she establishes or changes an Internet
identifier within 30 working days of the addition or change, as
specified, and requires the law enforcement agency to make this
information available to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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FISCAL EFFECT:
Additional cost (General Fund) to DOJ of $850,000 in 2016-17,
$750,000 in 2017-18, and $430,000 annually thereafter.
Additional staff will be required to update program procedures,
provide training and outreach to the field on procedures for
submission of required information to the DOJ, process/complete
updates to sex registration, pre-registration or pending
registration cycle additions and deletions, update and correct
disposition information from court information obtained by the
Violent Crime Information Center (VCIC), as well as create new
records for sex registrants where no record exists and automate
criminal history folders requested by the VCIC. In addition,
staff will be required to implement a new case management system
to track and manage when Internet identifier information is
released and to modify the existing California Sex and Arson
Registry system.
COMMENTS:
1)Background and Purpose. According to the author, "In November
of 2012 California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition
35, also known as the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation
Act (CASE Act). The act is the most popular initiative in
California's history, and was approved with 81% of the vote
and is the first initiative to receive over 10 million votes.
California voters wanted to insure that sex offenders provide
their online identities to law enforcement. Unfortunately, the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rendered that portion of the
proposition unconstitutional. This bill addresses those
constitutional concerns.
"The internet, with all of its benefits, has become a place
for sexual predators to thrive. In June of this year the
federal government in Operation Broken Heart arrested 1,140
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child predators in 41 states that were using the internet to
distribute child pornography, entice children for sexual
purposes, sell children into prostitution, and engage in
sexual tourism. This bill would ensure that sex offenders who
have already used the internet in the commission of their
crime provide their online identifiers to law enforcement.
This vital tool will assist law enforcement if they ever have
to investigate these individuals again for future violations."
The provisions in the CASE Act that this bill seeks to replace
have been found to violate the First Amendment. (Doe v.
Harris (9th Cir. 2014) 772 F.3d 563.). The Court concluded
that the statute violated the First Amendment by unnecessarily
chilling speech in at least three ways: (1) the Act does not
make clear what sex offenders are required to report, (2)
there are insufficient safeguards preventing the public
release of the information sex offenders do report, and (3)
the 24-hour reporting requirement is onerous and overbroad.
(Ibid.) This bill narrows the applicability of its
requirements and places safeguards on when this information
should be disclosed in order to address these specific
concerns.
2)Support: According to Safer California Foundation, a
co-sponsor of this bill, "In the age of the internet, human
trafficking has become increasingly easier for traffickers to
find and abuse their victims. According to a 2012 report by
the Attorney General, 'The business of sex trafficking, in
particular, has moved online. Traffickers use the Internet to
increase their reach, both in recruiting victims through
social media and finding clients via advertisement posted on
classified advertising websites."
3)Opposition: According to California Reform Sex Offender Laws,
"If SB 448 becomes law, the anonymity of registered citizens,
who are unpopular individuals in today's intolerant society,
would be suppressed. That is, they will be unable to express
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their opinions on topics such as SB 448 due to fear of
retaliation."
4)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 653 and AB 755 (Galgiani), of the 2011-12
Legislation Session, among their many provisions, would
have required every registered sex offender to inform the
law enforcement agency with which he or she last registered
of all Internet identifiers or service providers. AB 653
was not set for a hearing in Assembly Public Safety and AB
755 failed passage in that Committee.
b) AB 1850 (Galgiani), of the 2009-10 Legislative Session,
held in this Committee's Suspense file, provided that any
person sentenced to probation or released on parole for an
offense that requires him or she to register as a sex
offender, as specified, from using the Internet under
certain circumstances.
c) SB 1204 (Runner), of the 2009-10 Legislative Session,
held in this Committee's Suspense file, required every
registered sex offender to inform the law enforcement
agency with which he or she last registered of all of his
or her online addresses, e-mail addresses, and IM user
names by December 31, 2011 and thereafter at the time of
original registration and within 30 days of establishing a
new online account. This information, may, upon request,
be shared with the DOJ or other law enforcement agencies.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 448
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