BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Mark Leno, Chair A
2009-2010 Regular Session B
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AB 1813 (Lieu) 3
As Amended April 15, 2010
Hearing date: June 22, 2010
Government Code
MK:mc
PUBLIC OFFICIALS: PERSONAL INFORMATION
HISTORY
Source: California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Prior Legislation: AB 1035 (Spitzer) - 2005, held in Senate
Judiciary
AB 1595 (Evans) - Chapter 343, Stats. 2005
AB 2905 (Spitzer) - Chapter 248, Stats. 2004
AB 2238 (Dickerson) - Chapter 621, Stats. 2002
Support: L.A. County Probation Officers Union; Association for
Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; Riverside Sheriffs'
Association; Anaheim Police Officers Political Action
Committee; Peace Officers Research Association of
California; California District Attorneys Association;
Irvine Police Association; California Attorneys,
Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers;
California Correctional Peace Officers Association;
California State Sheriffs' Association; Orange County
Employees Association; California Probation Parole and
Correctional Association; Chief Probation Officers of
California; California Public Defenders Association
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Opposition: None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 74 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD INFORMATION PROVIDED TO CELLULAR PHONE APPLICATIONS BE
INCLUDED IN THE TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL MAY OPT
OUT FROM HAVING ON THE INTERNET?
SHOULD THE DEFINITION OF PEACE OFFICER WITHIN THE DEFINITION OF
"PUBLIC OFFICIAL" BE EXPANDED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to include the information provided
to cellular phone applications in the information that a public
official may ask to be removed from the internet and to expand
the definition of peace officer within the definition of public
official.
Existing law , the Public Records Act (PRA), provides that all
records of state and local agencies are open and the public has
the right to inspect those records under specified conditions.
The PRA exempts specified records, and other provisions of law
exempt specified records from the PRA requirement of open
records. (Government Code 6250 et seq.)
Existing law prohibits a state or local agency from posting on
the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected
or appointed official without first obtaining the written
permission of the elected official. (Government Code
6254.21(a).)
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly
post on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any
elected or appointed official, his or her spouse or child,
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knowing that the information concerns an elected or appointed
official and intending to cause imminent great bodily harm that
is likely to occur, or threatening to cause imminent great
bodily harm to that individual. A violation that leads to
bodily injury of the official, his or her spouse or child, is
prosecutable as a wobbler. (Government Code 6254.21(b).)
Existing law states that no person, business, or association
shall publicly post or publicly display on the Internet the home
address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official
if that official has made a written demand of that person,
business, or association to not disclose his or her home address
or telephone number. (Government Code 6254.21(c)(1)(A).)
Existing law prohibits any person, business, or association from
soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet the home address
or telephone number of an elected or appointed official with the
intent to cause imminent great bodily harm to the official or to
any person residing at the official's home address. (Government
Code 6254.21(d)(1).)
Existing law defines "elected or appointed official" to include,
but is not limited to, all of the following:
State constitutional officers;
Members of the Legislature;
Judges and court commissioners;
District attorneys;
Public defenders;
Members of a city council;
Members of a board of supervisors;
Appointees of the Governor;
Appointees of the Legislature;
Mayors;
City attorneys;
Police chiefs and sheriffs;
A public safety official, as defined in Government Code
Section 6254.24;
State administrative law judges;
Federal judges and federal defenders; and,
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Members of the United States Congress and appointees of
the President. (Government Code Section 6254.21(1) to
(16).)
Existing law states nothing in this section is intended to
preclude punishment instead under provisions of the Penal Code
of or any other provision of law. (Government Code
6254.21(g).)
This bill provides that the information that must be removed
includes information provided to cellular telephone
applications.
Existing law defines public safety official for the purposes of
Government Code Section 6254.21 as follows:
An active or retired peace officer as defined in
Sections 830 and 830.1of the Penal Code.
An active or retired public officer or other person
listed in Sections 1808.2 and 1808.6 of the Vehicle Code.
An "elected or appointed official" as defined in
subdivision (f) of Section 6254.21.
An attorney employed by the Department of Justice, the
State Public Defender, or a county office of the district
attorney or public defender, the United States Attorney, or
the Federal Public Defender.
A city attorney and an attorney who represent cities in
criminal matters.
A specified employee of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation who supervises inmates or is required to
have a prisoner in his or her care or custody, sworn or
nonsworn employee who supervises inmates in a city police
department, a county sheriff's office, the Department of
the California Highway Patrol, federal, state, or a local
detention facility, and a local juvenile hall, camp, ranch,
or home, and a probation officer as defined in Section
830.5 of the Penal Code.
A federal prosecutor, a federal criminal investigator,
and a National Park Service Ranger working in California.
The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer defined
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in Section 830 of the Penal Code, if the peace officer died
in the line of duty.
State and federal judges and court commissioners.
An employee of the Attorney General, a district
attorney, or a public defender who submits verification
from the Attorney General, district attorney, or public
defender that the employee represents the Attorney General,
district attorney, or public defender in matters that
routinely place that employee in personal contact with
persons under investigation for, charged with, or convicted
of, committing criminal acts.
A nonsworn employee of the Department of Justice or a
police department or sheriff's office that, in the course
of his or her employment, is responsible for collecting,
documenting, and preserving physical evidence at crime
scenes, testifying in court as an expert witness, and other
technical duties, and a nonsworn employee that, in the
course of his or her employment, performs a variety of
standardized and advanced laboratory procedures in the
examination of physical crime evidence, determines their
results, and provides expert testimony in court.
(Government Code 6254.24.)
Existing law defines a number of different types of "peace
officers" and people who have duties similar to peace officers.
(Penal Code 830-830.65 and 830.7.)
This bill includes in the definition of peace officer for the
purposes of defining "public safety official" peace officers as
defined in Penal Code sections 830-830.65 and a person who is
not a peace officer but may exercise the powers of arrest during
the course and within the scope of their employment pursuant to
Penal Code section 830.7.
This bill also extends the definition of peace officers to
retired officers.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION IMPLICATIONS
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The severe prison overcrowding problem California has
experienced for the last several years has not been solved. In
December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to
reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity
-- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years.
In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4,
2009, that court stated in part:
"California's correctional system is in a tailspin,"
the state's independent oversight agency has reported.
. . . (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report,
"Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is
Running Out"). Tough-on-crime politics have increased
the population of California's prisons dramatically
while making necessary reforms impossible. . . . As a
result, the state's prisons have become places "of
extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, .
. . (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison
Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while
contributing little to the safety of California's
residents, . . . . California "spends more on
corrections than most countries in the world," but the
state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . . .
Although California's existing prison system serves
neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has
for years been unable or unwilling to implement the
reforms necessary to reverse its continuing
deterioration. (Some citations omitted.)
. . .
The massive 750% increase in the California prison
population since the mid-1970s is the result of
political decisions made over three decades, including
the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the
passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes
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laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole
system. Unfortunately, as California's prison
population has grown, California's political
decision-makers have failed to provide the resources
and facilities required to meet the additional need
for space and for other necessities of prison
existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts
have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the
state could safely reduce its prison population, their
recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or
postponed indefinitely. The convergence of
tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend
the necessary funds to support the population growth
has brought California's prisons to the breaking
point. The state of emergency declared by Governor
Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to
this day, California's prisons remain severely
overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison
system continue to languish without constitutionally
adequate medical and mental health care.<1>
The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010, ruling
pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court. On Monday, June 14, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed
to hear the state's appeal in this case.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
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<1> Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, Coleman v.
Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States
District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the
Northern District of California United States District Court
composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28
United States Code (August 4, 2009).
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1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
In the past two years, Los Angeles law enforcement
officers were killed at their homes. These tragic
deaths continue to serve as a reminder of how vulnerable
our public safety officials are, even while off-duty at
their homes. Current law allows public safety officials
to opt-out of having their personal information on the
internet; however, with the expansion of smart cellular
phones (iphone, blackberry, droid, etc.) and their
applications to the existing opt-out provisions under
the Public Safety Officials Home Protection Act.
Additionally, this bill will include more peace officers
to the definition of public safety officials for the
existing opt-out provisions. This bill will help ensure
the safety and wellbeing of more public safety officials
and their families.
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2. Cellular Telephone Applications
Existing law permits specified "public officials" to request
their home address and telephone be removed from an internet
site. This bill provides that information provided to cellular
telephone applications is included in information that may be
requested to be removed. According to the author:
[W]ith the expansion of smart cellular phones 9iphone,
blackberry and droid, etc) and their applications, the
opted-out information still remains available on these
phones because data vendors can purchase public
information from a variety of source, including the
county recorder's office, county assessor's office and
school alumni lists. The concern is that when data
vendors purchase the pubic information from a different
source, the pubic safety official's home address and
telephone number is posted once again, but now on cell
phone applications.
3. Definition of "Peace Officer"
As noted above, the law provides that a specified "public
official" can request specified personal information be removed
from internet sites. Peace officers are defined within the
definition for "public official" as peace officers falling under
Penal Code sections 830 and 830.1. This bill expands that
definition by including all peace officers as defined under
Penal Code sections 830-830.65. This expansion would include:
LA County Police Officers; Park Rangers; Department of General
Services Peace Officers; Housing Authority Patrol Officers;
Community College Police; School District Police; BART Police;
Harbor Police; Transit Police; Airport Police; Municipal Utility
District or County Water District Security Police; Welfare Fraud
or Child Support Investigators; Coroners and Deputy Coroners,
Legislative Sergeant-at-Arms; Marshals of the Supreme Court;
Bailiffs of the Court of Appeal; Fire Department of Arson
Investigators; State Mental Hospital Officers; Security Officers
of the Department of Justice; Parole Officers; and Correctional
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Officers.
This bill also expands the definition of peace officer to
include a person who is not a peace officer but may exercise the
powers of arrest during the course and within the scope of their
employment under Penal Code section 830.7 which includes:
persons designated by a cemetery authority; persons employed as
a security officers for independent institutions of higher
learning; persons regularly employed as security officers for
health facilities; employees designated by the Director of
Forestry and Fire Protection; persons employed as inspectors,
supervisors or security officers for transit districts under
specified circumstances; nonpeace officers employed as county
parole officers; persons appointed by the Executive Director of
the California Science Center; persons employed as investigators
by the Department of Transportation for the City of Los Angeles;
people employed by any department of the City of Los Angeles who
are designated as security officers; and illegal dumping
enforcement officers.
Finally, this bill expands the universe of peace officers who
are included in the definition of "public officials" by
extending it to all officers active or retired.
Supporters of the bill argue that this expansion protects all
peace officers, who have the ability to arrest, and their
families.
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