BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 337|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 337
Author: Torres (D)
Amended: 8/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 7/7/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Steinberg, Wright
NOES: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-2, 7/23/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price,
Wolk, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-25, 6/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Juvenile justice: sealing and destruction of
court records
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires juvenile courts and probation
departments to ensure that information about the sealing
and destruction of juvenile records is provided to persons
with juvenile records on or after January 1, 2011, as
specified.
ANALYSIS : Current law prohibits the sealing or
destruction of juvenile records "in any case in which the
CONTINUED
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person has been found by the juvenile court to have
committed an offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section
707 when he or she had attained 14 years of age or older."
[Section 781(a) and (d) of the Welfare and Institutions
Code (WIC)]
Current law otherwise generally authorizes a petition to
seal juvenile delinquency court records five years or more
after the persons was cited, court jurisdiction terminated,
once the person has reached 18 years of age, as specified.
(WIC Section 781(a))
Current law generally requires the juvenile court to notify
the district attorney, the county probation officer, and
enumerated others having relevant evidence may testify at
the hearing on the petition, as specified.
Current law generally provides that if, after hearing, the
court finds that the person "has not been convicted of a
felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and
that rehabilitation has been attained to the satisfaction
of the court," the court shall order all records, papers,
and exhibits in the person's case in the custody of the
juvenile court sealed, as specified.
Current law provides that "(o)nce the court has ordered the
person's records sealed, the proceedings in the case shall
be deemed never to have occurred, and the person may
properly reply accordingly to any inquiry about the events,
the records of which are ordered sealed."
Current law sets forth additional provision concerning the
treatment of juvenile records, including the destruction of
sealed juvenile records.
This bill requires that, on and after January 1, 2011, each
court and probation department "ensure that information
regarding the eligibility for and the procedures to request
the sealing and destruction of records pursuant to this
section shall be provided to each person who is either of
the following:
(A) A person for whom a petition has been filed, on or
after January 1, 2011, to adjudge the person a ward of
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the juvenile court.
(B) A person who is brought before a probation officer
pursuant to Section 626."
This bill requires the Judicial Council, on or before
January 1, 2011, to "develop informational materials for
purposes (enumerated above), and ? a form to petition the
court for the sealing and destruction of records pursuant
to this section."
This bill requires that these informational materials and
the form shall be provided to the persons enumerated
directly above "when jurisdiction is terminated or when the
case is dismissed."
WIC Section 707 (b) offenses are the following: (1)
murder, (2) arson, as specified, (3) robbery, (4) rape with
force or violence or threat of great bodily harm, (5)
sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of
great bodily harm, (6) lewd or lascivious act with a child
under 14, as specified, (7) oral copulation by force,
violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm,
(8) forcible sexual penetration, as specified, (9)
kidnapping for ransom, (10) kidnapping for purpose of
robbery, (11) kidnapping with bodily harm, (12) attempted
murder, (13) assault with a firearm or destructive device,
(14) assault by any means of force likely to produce great
bodily injury, (15) discharge of a firearm into an
inhabited or occupied building, (16) specified crimes
against older or physically disabled persons, as specified,
(17) specified firearm offenses, (18) any felony offense in
which the minor personally used a weapon, as specified,
(19) specified felonies involving victim intimidation, (20)
manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or
more of any salt or solution of a controlled substance, as
specified, (21) any violent felony, as specified, (22)
escape, by the use of force or violence, from any county
juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp, as
specified, where great bodily injury is intentionally
inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility during
the commission of the escape, (23) torture, as specified,
(24) aggravated mayhem, as specified, (25) carjacking, as
specified, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon,
(26) kidnapping, as specified, (27) kidnapping relating to
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carjacking, as specified, (28) specified offenses involving
firearms in vehicles, (29) specified crimes involving
explosive devices, and (30) voluntary manslaughter, as
specified.
WIC Section 781(d) specifically provides: "Unless for good
cause the court determines that the juvenile court record
shall be retained, the court shall order the destruction of
a person's juvenile court records that are sealed pursuant
to this section as follows: five years after the record
was ordered sealed, if the person who is the subject of the
record was alleged or adjudged to be a person described by
Section 601; or when the person who is the subject of the
record reaches the age of 38 if the person was alleged or
adjudged to be a person described by Section 602, except
that if the subject of the record was found to be a person
described in Section 602 because of the commission of an
offense listed in subdivision (b), of Section 707, when he
or she was 14 years of age or older, the record shall not
be destroyed. Any other agency in possession of sealed
records may destroy its records five years after the record
was ordered sealed." See also WIC Section 826.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Develop new forms/ Minor and absorbable,
one-time cost General*
materials
New requirement on Very minor, unlikely to be
reimbursable General
County Probation
* Trial Courts Trust Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/09)
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American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California School Boards of Education
California Teachers Association
Friends Committee on Legislation
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"Records of the most serious offenses in juvenile court
are open to the public. Offenses not considered serious
are eligible to be sealed. Currently commercial brokers
and others, including credit companies, potential
employers, and prospective landlords, are able to obtain
information and hold it against people who may have
committed minor offenses in their youth. Worse, much of
the information may be incomplete or even wrong, failing
to reflect that a case has been dismissed, or the fact
that a youth successfully completed probation and had his
or her petition dismissed. Thus, collateral consequences
of juvenile behavior continue into adulthood: employers
may deny jobs or promotions, landlords may refuse to
rent, and people otherwise able and willing to be
productive citizens may be shut out of gainful
activities.
"Today there are many law abiding adults who are being
negatively affected as a result of minor offenses they
committed in their youth. Although minor offenses can
legally be sealed under current law, many youth and young
people do not understand their rights, and do not
understand the process they must undertake to file a
petition in court and ask for relief. This is especially
true for youth who have no guiding adult, mentor or
caretaker in their lives to assist them, many of whom
emancipated out of the foster care system."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
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Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue,
Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Tran,
Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Block, Yamada
RJG:mw 8/17/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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