BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 362|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 362
Author: Miller (R), et al
Amended: 7/1/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/23/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-7, 5/21/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Unauthorized theft, reuse or moving of
political signs
SOURCE : Riverside County District Attorney
DIGEST : This bill provides that it is a crime to remove,
reuse, damage or possess any political sign without
authorization.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally establishes various
offenses constituting theft.
This bill makes it a crime, except as specified, for a
person to take, possess, damage, reuse, or move any
political sign or signs without authorization from the
owner of the sign or signs and with the intent to prevent,
substantially alter, or substantially obscure the
CONTINUED
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communication of the sign. The bill makes a violation of
this provision punishable as an infraction or a
misdemeanor, as specified, and makes a second or subsequent
violation a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding
$2,000, or both.
This bill contains the following definitions:
1."Owner" means the campaign for which the sign was
created, a purchaser of a sign, a person who received a
sign as a gift, a person who has given permission for the
placement of the sign on his or her property, or a person
in lawful possession of property who has given permission
for the placement of the sign on that property.
2."Political sign" means any sign displayed through the day
of an election that advocates the election of a specific
candidate or official office or advocates a position
regarding a ballot issue or issues.
The bill specifies the prohibition does not apply to a law
enforcement officer, local government official, or
authorized representative of the campaign for whom the sign
was created, while acting within the scope of his or her
official capacity, to a private property owner who has not
given consent to the placement of a political sign on his
or her property, or to a person in lawful possession of
property who ahs not given permission for the placement of
the sign on the property.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/09)
Riverside County District Attorney (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Political signs allow citizens to exercise their first
amendment right and to represent their position on a given
issue or candidate. Many times people have a deep moral,
faith-based, financial, familial, and or strong emotional
connection to a particular issue, causing them to rally and
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take action either in support or opposition. Regardless of
the motive, intention or position, it is illegal to
vandalize and or infringe upon the property and free speech
of another.
"However, there continue to be cases where political signs
are confiscated, covered with other propaganda and used for
opposing campaign purposes. Moreover, there are situations
where major theft or misuse occurs, but such cases are
difficult to prosecute because existing code is vague in
determining whether or not certain misuses are a crime.
"Often criminal motive can be difficult to prove because of
circumstances unique to a political campaign. This bill
would clarify that without express permission from the
campaign, owner of the sign(s) or without being exempted,
it is a crime to move, take, misuse or damage political
signs. The intent of this bill is to target major theft
and misuse of political signs, which infringes on the
political process and compromises our democracy, not to
target the theft of a yard sign in a neighbor dispute."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Tom Berryhill, Carter, Chesbro, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Ma,
Miller, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Ruskin, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Torlakson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Ammiano, Blumenfield, Brownley, Charles Calderon,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Skinner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Block, Buchanan, Caballero,
Conway, Harkey, Hernandez, Jones, Knight, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Portantino, Price, Salas, Saldana, Swanson,
Torres
RJG:cm 7/8/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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