BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 568
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: 9/4/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 7/14/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 8/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Oropeza, Runner,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Price, Walters, Wyland, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/28/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Counterfeit goods: abatement
SOURCE : Los Angeles County District Attorney
DIGEST : This bill provides that every nonresidential
building or place used for the purpose of willfully
manufacturing, intentionally selling, or knowingly
possessing for sale nay counterfeit goods is a nuisance
which shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented, and for
which damages may be recovered. This bill permits a
district attorney, city attorney, or any citizen or
resident to bring an action to abate and prevent the
nuisance and perpetually enjoin the person conducting or
CONTINUED
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maintaining the nuisance. This bill sunsets on January 1,
2015.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 strike the current
provisions of the bill which incorporate existing nuisance
abatement remedies and procedures and instead cross
reference those existing remedies and procedures with a few
revisions. These amendments also make the order of
abatement discretionary rather than mandatory by striking
language requiring that the nuisance be abated. The
amendments also make other conforming change
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that every building or
place used for the purpose for illegal gambling, lewdness,
assignation, or prostitution, and every building or place
wherein or upon which these acts take place, is a nuisance
that shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented, whether it
is a public or private nuisance.
Existing law authorizes a district attorney, city attorney,
or citizen, as specified, to maintain an action to abate
and prevent the nuisance and perpetually to enjoin the
person conducting or maintaining it, and the owner, lessee,
or agent of the building or place in or upon which the
nuisance exists from directly or indirectly maintaining or
permitting the nuisance.
This bill provides that if a person is convicted of a
specified crime, then a nonresidential building or place
used by that person for the purpose of willfully
manufacturing, intentionally selling, or knowingly
possessing for sale any counterfeit goods, defined to
include counterfeit of a registered mark or any recording
or audiovisual work, the cover, box, jacket, or label of
which does not disclose specified information, shall be
deemed a nuisance that may be enjoined, abated.
This bill makes certain remedies and procedures in existing
law, a violation of which is a crime, relative to the
abatement of buildings or places where a nuisance exists
applicable to these provisions.
The bill requires a district attorney, city attorney, or
city prosecutor that maintains an action or actions to
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enjoin, abate, or prevent a nuisance pursuant to these
provisions to report, by October 1, 2013, to the Senate and
Assembly Committees on Judiciary on their use of these
abatement provisions and their effectiveness.
The bill's provisions becomes inoperative on January 1,
2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/09)
Los Angeles County District Attorney (source)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
Central City Association of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Motion Picture Association of America
Peace Officers Research Association
Sony Pictures Entertainment
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/4/09)
American Civil Liberties Union
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Office, sponsor of this bill, asserts that the
bill will provide law enforcement with important new tools,
including injunctions, abatement orders, and civil
penalties. This bill is based upon existing narcotics
abatement law and the sponsor explains that the law has
been successfully used by prosecutors and private litigants
in California since 1992. Also, California's Red Light
Abatement Law, which grants local authorities increased
powers by declaring a property used for unlawful purposes a
public nuisance, has been used successfully to combat
prostitution, according to the sponsor. The sponsor
believes that this bill will similarly enhance the power of
local authorities to combat counterfeiting and piracy.
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) opposes the bill, arguing that, while
counterfeiting may be unlawful, it does not constitute a
nuisance to tenants or neighbors in the same manner as
prostitution, illegal drugs, or illegal weapons. The ACLU
writes, "by extending the 'public nuisance' designation to
counterfeiting and sales, it is hard to imagine which
illegal activities could not be considered a public
nuisance."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Niello,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Evans, Mendoza, Nestande
RJG:do 9/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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