BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 448 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 10, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair SB 448 (Hueso) - As Amended August 1, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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). SB 448 Page 2 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 SB 448 Page 3 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 SB 448 Page 4 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 Page 5