BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 353
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 353 (Cedillo and Allen)
As Amended August 22, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 2, 2011) |SENATE: |30-7 |(August 30, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Prohibits the impoundment of a vehicle stopped at a
sobriety checkpoint if the driver's sole offense is the failure to
be properly licensed.
The Senate amendments :
1)Repeal the authority of counties to establish, on highways under
their jurisdiction, combined vehicle inspection and sobriety
checkpoint programs.
2)Require the driver of a motor vehicle to stop and submit to a
sobriety checkpoint inspection conducted by a law enforcement
agency when signs and displays are posted requiring that stop.
3)Prohibit a peace officer or any other authorized person from
causing the impoundment of a vehicle at a sobriety checkpoint if
the driver's only offense is his or her failure to hold a valid
driver's license.
4)Require a law enforcement officer who, during the conduct of a
sobriety checkpoint encounters an unlicensed driver, to make a
reasonable attempt to identify the registered owner of the
vehicle.
5)Require the officer, if the registered owner is present or if the
officer is able to identify the registered owner and obtain the
registered owner's authorization to release the motor vehicle to a
licensed driver by the end of the checkpoint, to release the
vehicle to either the registered owner of the vehicle if he or she
is a licensed driver or to the licensed driver authorized by the
registered owner of the vehicle.
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6)Require the name and driver's license number of the licensed
driver to whom the vehicle was released to be listed on the
officer's copy of any notice to appear issued to an unlicensed
driver.
7)Require a vehicle that cannot be released to be removed, whether a
notice to appear has been issued or not.
8)Require the removed vehicle to be released to the registered owner
or his or her agent at any time the facility to which the vehicle
has been removed is open, upon presentation of the registered
owner's or his or her agent's currently valid driver's license and
proof of current vehicle registration.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows a peace officer who determines that a person was driving a
vehicle without ever having been issued a driver's license, to
either immediately arrest that person and cause the removal and
seizure of that vehicle or, if the vehicle is involved in a
traffic collision, cause the removal and seizure of the vehicle
without the necessity of arresting the person.
2)Provides that such an impoundment will be for 30 days.
3)Allows counties, by ordinance, to establish on highways under
their respective jurisdictions, a combined vehicle inspection and
sobriety checkpoint program to check for violations of vehicle
exhaust standards and to identify drivers who are driving under
the influence of alcohol or drugs or are persons under 21 driving
with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .05 or more.
4)Requires such a program to be conducted by the local agency or
department with the primary responsibility for traffic law
enforcement.
5)Requires the driver of a motor vehicle to stop and submit to an
inspection conducted under these provisions when signs and
displays are posted requiring that stop.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill repealed provisions that allow
the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to build a
freeway meeting certain conditions without first securing a freeway
agreement with the affected local jurisdictions.
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Traditionally, sobriety
checkpoints are meant to be used as means to stop intoxicated
drivers from endangering the safety of the public. Despite their
original intent, sobriety checkpoints are increasingly being used to
target drivers that are ineligible to obtain licenses in order to
increase local revenue. Frequently these checkpoints are set up in
the areas that do not have a high correlation of DUI arrests or
accidents; instead, they are placed in neighborhoods and, or
locations where there are higher populations of low-income families
and communities.
"According to a report from the Investigative Reporting Program of
UC Berkeley, 'Most of the state's 3,200 roadblocks over the past two
years occurred in or near Hispanic neighborhoods. Sixty-one percent
of checkpoints took place in locations with at least 31 percent
Hispanic population. About 17 percent of the state's checkpoints
occurred in areas with the lowest Hispanic population-under 18
percent.' (California Watch, Car Seizures at DUI Checkpoints Prove
Profitable for Cities, Raise Legal Questions (2010)).
"Also, while impoundments for DUIs are usually overnight,
impoundment for driving without a license typically last for a term
of 30 days. Often, this effectively results in the forfeiture of
the vehicle because the towing and impoundment fees may well exceed
the value of the vehicle, which is apart from the fines already paid
to local governments. Together, checkpoints do not act like a
deterrent, but create a financial hardship for low-income families.
"With local government revenues shrinking, cities have begun
increasing their revenue by using sobriety checkpoints to target
these communities. This occurs in two ways. First, local
governments often charge unlicensed drivers fines to get their
vehicles released from impound, averaging more than $150. Moreover,
the second way cities increase revenue is by taking a portion of the
fees that towing operators charge vehicle owners. This generates
hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The federal government
provides the California Office of Traffic Safety with $100 million
dollars annually to promote traffic safety. Thirty million of those
dollars are specifically reserved to fund programs that seek to
limit drunk driving, particularly sobriety checkpoints. Since
grants pay for the officers needed to manage the checkpoints, local
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governments only benefit, without costs, from targeting communities
whose residents are not eligible to obtain licenses. Due to this,
the ratio of drivers caught inebriated compared to those without
licenses is extremely skewed. In 2009, police impounded more than
24,000 vehicles at checkpoints, roughly seven times higher than
3,200 drunken driving arrests at roadway operations.
"Lastly, the constitutional legality of impounding vehicles is also
questionable. In Miranda v. City of Cornelius (2007), 429 F. 3d
858, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal ruled that impounding a
vehicle without a warrant was limited under the Fourth Amendment of
the U.S. Constitution. Unless pursuant to a lawful arrest or unless
the 'community caretaker' provisions were present, the courts stated
that 'impounding legally parked vehicles was unreasonable seizure
when there was not reasonable justification for removing it.'
(Jones and Mayer). Also, in a similar case titled People v.
Williams, 145 Cal. App. 4th 756, an appellate court held that
depending on the circumstances, seizing a vehicle pursuant to V.C.
section 2265(h)(1) may be unconstitutional. Due to these rulings,
some police departments have already changed their approach to
impounding, but many still continue the aforementioned practices.
As a result, there is currently an inconsistent application of
towing and impounding between cities and counties in California.
This bill would make towing and impounding policies at checkpoints
uniform throughout the state."
The American Civil Liberties Union states, "Uniform legal clarity is
necessary on when and how cars can be impounded at sobriety
checkpoints. Without clear guidance, sobriety checkpoints have
turned into gateway for illegal seizures of cars. The bill codifies
Miranda v. City of Cornelius , which is the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals decision that provides that car that can be safely parked by
a licensed driver will not be impounded under the 'community
caretaker provision' and provides a uniform policy for the number of
days a car may be impounded."
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles further
notes, "Statewide statistics show that in 2009, officers impounded
over 24,000 vehicles from sobriety checkpoints, which was a 53
percent increase from 2007. This is around seven times higher than
3,200 arrests for DUI that occurred at the same checkpoints. Data
like this raises the question of whether the main purpose of
sobriety checkpoints really is to confront driving."
Related legislation: AB 1389 (Allen) sets detailed standards for
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the establishment and operation of sobriety checkpoints. AB 1389 is
pending on the Senate floor.
This bill, as amended in the Senate has not been heard in the
Assembly.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0002095