California Family Minute

While the deadline for introducing new legislation is long past, legislators are still introducing the occasional new measure – either through a legislative maneuver known as gut and amend or by receiving permission to bend the rules – rules authored and formally adopted by the legislators themselves. Gut and amend, a process similar to the cut-and-paste function on a word processor, results when the entire text of a bill is removed and then replaced with new language – often on a totally unrelated issue.

In recent weeks, several new bills have been introduced in reaction to news headlines. Two of these are a result of child-protection loopholes highlighted by recent, riveting court cases. Last week, Sen. Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) gutted and amended a bill that dealt with vehicle registration to address a loophole stemming from a 2008 California Supreme Court decision that created a presumption that – despite heinous crimes – “release on parole is the rule, rather than the exception.” Inspired by the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, SB 391 would allow parole boards to give greater weight to the enormity of crimes in determining a convict’s suitability for parole, protecting future victims from paroled criminals like Phillip Garrido.

Introduced last month, AB 1432 (Mitchell, D-Culver City) was sparked by the controversial verdict in the case of two-year-old Caylee Anthony. Caylee’s mother, who failed to report her daughter missing for one month after her daughter’s disappearance, was acquitted of murder last month. AB 1432 would criminalized the failure to report the disappearance or death of a child under 14 within 24 hours – if the child disappeared under circumstances that a reasonable person should believe a crime occurred or the child is in danger.

California’s city by the bay is known for the outrageous and extreme. Recently, San Francisco, the city that banned Happy Meals, again made national headlines, when an initiative outlawing male circumcision qualified for the city ballot. Religious and political leaders – believing the proposal threatened religious freedom and parental authority – took the matter to court, where Judge Loretta M. Giorgi ordered the measure removed from the ballot. Meanwhile, legislators have gutted and amended an environmental measure in order to address the issue. The new AB 768 (Gatto, D-Burbank), which will be heard in Senate Judiciary tomorrow, prevents a city, county, or city and county regulation or ordinance from restricting or prohibiting male circumcision or the parental authority to have a child circumcised.

Primarily, legislators will spend this week putting the finishing touches on the 2011 legislative session. They will address legislation that remains on the suspense files in fiscal committees and consider bills to be passed along to Governor Jerry Brown for him to sign, veto, or allow to go into law without any action.

AB 768 (Gatto, D-Burbank) Male Circumcision – would prevent a city, county, or city and county regulation or ordinance from restricting or prohibiting male circumcision or the parental authority to have a child circumcised. Originally an environmental measure, AB 768 was gutted and amended on July 7, 2011 to preclude a proposed San Francisco ballot measure that would have banned male circumcision in the city by the bay.
04/11/2011 Assembly Natural Resources Committee P 6-0
05/02/2011 Assembly Transportation Committee P 14-0
05/18/2011 Assembly Appropriations Committee P 17-0
05/26/2011 Assembly Floor P 75-0

Senate Judiciary Committee
August 23, 2011

AB 887 (Atkins, D-San Diego) Gender
Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee 7-3
Passed Assembly Appropriations Committee 12-5
Passed Assembly 54-24
Passed Senate Judiciary Committee 3-2
Senate Rules Committee; referred to Senate Public Safety Committee
Senate Public Safety Committee; referred to Senate Appropriations Committee
Senate Appropriations Committee; to second reading without further hearing pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8
Senate floor; may be voted upon any time
Results from the week of August 15, 2011

SB 57 (Runner, R-Lancaster) Sex Offenders: Social Networking Prohibition – would require registered sex offenders to report their online names, e-mail addresses, online addresses, and instant-messaging aliases to law enforcement.
Passed Senate Public Safety Committee 6-1
Passed Senate Appropriations Committee 8-0
Passed Senate 33-2
Passed Assembly Public Safety Committee 4-1
Assembly Appropriations Committee; to suspense file

SB 302 (Yee, D-San Francisco) Instructional Materials: Reviews
Passed Senate Education Committee 6-3
Passed Senate Appropriations Committee 6-2
Passed Senate floor 24-15
Passed Assembly Education Committee 7-3
Assembly Appropriations Committee; hearing postponed by committee