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Prior to 2002, California Government
Code § 6254.21, prohibited state and local agencies from
posting home addresses and telephone numbers of
elected and appointed officials on the internet
without their permission. In 2002, California
Assembly Member Richard Dickerson introduced Assembly
Bill 2238. AB 2238 amended the law by
prohibiting any person from knowingly posting home
addresses and telephone numbers of
any elected or appointed official, or the official's
residing spouse or child, on the
Internet knowing that person is 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. The bill extended this protection to public safety
officials as well, and also made a violation of this law a
misdemeanor. Additionally, the bill
created a task force to determine how to protect a
public safety official's home information. AB
2238 was a great start in protecting law enforcement
officers personal information, but the downside was it
only protected law enforcement officials if someone
posted their home address or telephone number on the
internet knowing that person is an elected
or appointed official and with intent to harm
them or their family.
In 2005, California Assembly Member
Noreen Evans introduced Assembly Bill 1595 which
changed GC § 6254.21 to prohibit a person, business,
or association from publicly posting or publicly
displaying 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. This
amendment was a huge success for public safety
officials in that it finally allowed them to opt-out
of internet data bases to prevent their home addresses
and phone numbers being readily available on the
internet.
In 2009, California Assembly Member
Ted Lieu introduced Assembly Bill 32. The bill
again amended GC § 6254.21. It now required data vendors to
immediately remove elected, appointed, and public
safety officials within forty-eight hours of receiving
a written demand. It also requires that the
information removed stays removed for four years.
As you can see GC § 6254.21 has
become a great tool for public safety, elected and
appointed officials in keeping themselves and their
family's safe! See below for the current law:
Government Code § 6254.21
(a) No state or local agency shall post the home
address or telephone number of any elected or
appointed official on the Internet without first
obtaining the written permission of that
individual.
(b) No person shall knowingly post the home
address or telephone number of any elected or
appointed official, or of the official's
residing spouse or child, on the Internet
knowing that person is 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 of this
subdivision is a misdemeanor. A violation of
this subdivision that leads to the bodily injury
of the official, or his or her residing spouse
or child, is a misdemeanor or a felony.
(c) (1) (A) 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.
(B) A written demand made under this paragraph by a state
constitutional officer, a mayor, or a Member of
the Legislature, a city council, or a board of
supervisors shall include a statement describing
a threat or fear for the safety of that official
or of any person residing at the official's home
address.
(C) A written demand made under this paragraph by an elected
official shall be effective for four years,
regardless of whether or not the official's term
has expired prior to the end of the four-year
period.
(D) (i) A person, business, or association that receives the
written demand of an elected or appointed
official pursuant to this paragraph shall remove
the official's home address or telephone number
from public display on the Internet, including
information provided to cellular telephone
applications, within 48 hours of delivery of the
written demand, and shall continue to ensure
that this information is not reposted on the
same Internet Web site, subsidiary site, or any
other Internet Web site maintained by the
recipient of the written demand.
(ii) After receiving the elected or appointed official's written
demand, the person, business, or association
shall not transfer the appointed or elected
official's home address or telephone number to
any other person, business, or association
through any other medium.
(iii) Clause (ii) shall not be deemed to prohibit a telephone
corporation, as defined in Section 234 of the
Public Utilities Code, or its affiliate, from
transferring the elected or appointed official's
home address or telephone number to any person,
business, or association, if the transfer is
authorized by federal or state law, regulation,
order, or tariff, or necessary in the event of
an emergency, or to collect a debt owed by the
elected or appointed official to the telephone
corporation or its affiliate.
(E) For purposes of this paragraph, "publicly post" or "publicly
display" means to intentionally communicate or
otherwise make available to the general public.
(2) An official whose home address or
telephone number is made public as a result of a
violation of paragraph (1) may bring an
action seeking injunctive or declarative relief
in any court of competent jurisdiction.
If a court finds that a violation has occurred,
it may grant injunctive or declarative relief
and shall award the official court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees. A fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000) may be imposed for
a violation of the court's order for an
injunction or declarative relief obtained
pursuant to this paragraph.
(3) An elected or appointed official may designate in writing the
official's employer, a related governmental
entity, or any voluntary
professional association of similar officials to
act, on behalf of that official, as that
official's agent with regard to making a written
demand pursuant to this section. A written
demand made by an agent pursuant to this
paragraph shall include a statement describing a
threat or fear for the safety of that official
or of any person residing at the official's home
address.
(d) (1) No person, business, or association shall solicit, sell, or
trade 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.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, an official whose home address
or telephone number is solicited, sold, or
traded in violation of
paragraph (1) may bring an action in any court
of competent jurisdiction. If a jury or court
finds that a violation has occurred, it shall
award damages to that official in an amount up
to a maximum of three times the actual damages
but in no case less than four thousand dollars
($4,000).
(e) An interactive computer service or access software provider, as
defined in Section 230(f) of Title 47 of the
United States Code,
shall not be liable under this section unless
the service or provider intends to abet or cause
imminent great bodily harm that is likely
to occur or threatens to cause imminent great
bodily harm to an elected or appointed official.
(f) For purposes of this section, "elected or appointed official"
includes, but is not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) State constitutional officers.
(2) Members of the Legislature.
(3) Judges and court commissioners.
(4) District attorneys.
(5) Public defenders.
(6) Members of a city council.
(7) Members of a board of supervisors.
(8) Appointees of the Governor.
(9) Appointees of the Legislature.
(10) Mayors.
(11) City attorneys.
(12) Police chiefs and sheriffs.
(13) A public safety official, as defined in Section 6254.24.
(14) State administrative law judges.
(15) Federal judges and federal defenders.
(16) Members of the United States Congress and appointees of the
President.
(g) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude punishment
instead under Sections 69, 76, or 422 of the
Penal Code, or any other
provision of law.
California Government Code §
6254.24 defines a public safety official as:
As used in this chapter, "public safety
official" means the following parties,
whether active or retired:
(a) A peace officer as defined in Sections 830 to 830.65,
inclusive, of the Penal Code,
or 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 Section 830.7 of the Penal
Code.
(b) A public officer or other person listed in Sections 1808.2 and
1808.6 of the Vehicle Code.
(c) An "elected or appointed official" as defined in subdivision
(f) of Section 6254.21.
(d) 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.
(e) A city attorney and an attorney who represent cities in
criminal matters.
(f) An 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.
(g) A 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.
(h) A federal prosecutor, a federal criminal investigator, and a
National Park Service Ranger working in
California.
(i) The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer defined in
Section 830 of the Penal Code,
if the peace officer died in the line
of duty.
(j) State and federal judges and court commissioners.
(k) 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.
(l) 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.
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