BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 456|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 456
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 4/23/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/14/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, McGuire, Monning, Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Criminal threats: discharge of a firearm
SOURCE: San Diego District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis
DIGEST: This bill enacts a new misdemeanor prohibiting persons
from threatening to discharge a firearm at a school, as
specified.
ANALYSIS: Existing law provides that willfully threatening to
commit a crime that results in death or great bodily injury
shall be punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not to
exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison. (Penal
Code § 422)
This bill:
1)Enacts a new crime to provide that a person who threatens to
discharge a firearm on the campus of a school or at a school
sponsored event in which the threat would be reasonably
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understood as true is guilty of a misdemeanor.
2)Provides that "a threat to discharge a firearm, [as
specified], includes a threat that is communicated orally, in
writing, by means of an electronic communication device,
including, but not limited to, a telephone, cellular
telephone, computer, video recorder, fax machine, text
message, and social media, and by any other means."
3)Provides that precautionary measures taken by a school or law
enforcement agency is evidence that the threat was reasonably
understood as true.
4)Defines "school" to mean a state preschool, private or public
elementary school, middle school, vocational school, junior
high school, or high school.
5)Provides that a person convicted of violating this section, or
adjudged a ward of the juvenile court is liable to a public
agency for the reasonable costs of the emergency response by
any public agency.
6)Does not preclude punishing a person for conduct under any
other law.
Background
Recent media reports have described numerous incidents involving
school threats. For example, in San Diego:
?there were 5 percent more suspensions and expulsions
in San Diego County related to making terrorist
threats in the 2013-14 school year than in the
previous school year, and 35 percent more than in the
2011-12 school year. Threats typically surface on
social media or are made via phone or email. Once
school officials learn of it, police are called in to
investigate, and a school might get locked down, with
everyone on campus kept behind locked doors until the
coast is clear. That could take hours.
Students from high school campuses in Oceanside, San
Diego, El Cajon and San Marcos, have been arrested on
suspicion of using the app to threaten schools.
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The CEO, Jonathan Lucas, said recent changes to the
app make it "very clear" that threats of violence and
bullying won't be tolerated. He said users are asked
to carefully consider the contents of their posts and
are even shown their IP addresses. He said the
company has been cooperating with all law enforcement
investigations and has a quick process in place to
help investigators locate users who commit crimes.
(Winkley, Lyndsay, and Pat Maio. "Online Schools
Threats Up; Officials Crack down." U-T San Diego.
N.p., 22 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.)
Similarly, in Los Angeles, an 11th grade student was arrested
for making threats through the social media app, Burnbook,
against a Los Angeles County high school. Investigators were
informed that the student had published the threat online and
was taken into custody the following day. He was charged with
making criminal threats after he confessed to threatening to
bring a weapon to school. The student told deputies that he was
making jokes. ("Student Arrested after Social Media Threats
against School." Student Arrested following Threats on Social
Media against Los Angeles County School. The Associated Press,
12 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified 5/11/15)
San Diego District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California District Attorneys Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriffs Association
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OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/11/15)
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
The author writes:
SB 456 criminalizes the making of a threat to commit a
school shooting, whether directed to a specific
individual, or whether posted on social media for an
invited or general viewing population.
A recent study of threats from August-December of 2014
by the President of National School Safety and
Security Services shows some alarming trends. The
number of threats in that time period was up 158% from
last year, with 37% of those threats sent
electronically via social media, e-mail, text
messaging and other online resources. Nearly 30% of
the threats analyzed resulted in a school evacuation,
and 10% resulted in school closures for at least a
portion of the day. In the San Diego Unified School
District, alone, there have been 138 reported threats
in the past year.
There are significant costs associated with threats
that target schools-both in the initial response
required to insure that the community is safe by
shutting down the targeted schools, but also in the
subsequent investigation that may require substantial
time, resources, and opportunity costs.
SB 456 applies specifically to school-shooting
threats, and does not require proof of a specifically
targeted individual, or a demonstration of sustained
fear by any one particular person, thus filling the
gap left by statutes that proscribe bomb threats and
criminal threats, SB 456 holds offenders accountable,
deters future conduct, and shifts the burden of costs
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by authorizing the court to order restitution.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children argues generally that minors should be disciplined
through community-based services as an alternative to
incarceration. Youth exposure to the criminal justice system
heightens the likelihood that youth offenders will recidivate in
adulthood, further aggravating prison overcrowding.
Additionally, there is concern surrounding the ability to pay
financial penalties that would disproportionately affect lower
income children and families.
Prepared by:Linda Tenerowicz / PUB. S. /
5/13/15 16:37:51
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