UPDATED NEWS: CA Senate Bill 615 Temporarily Suspended
The California Senate Rules Committee advanced Senate Bill 615 by assigning the bill to the Senate Public Safety Committee. Although the Public Safety Committee has not yet set a date for consideration of SB 615, the deadline for the committee’s consideration is April 30.
“It is now time to start calling the five members of the Senate Public Safety Committee and to state your opposition to Senate Bill 615,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Each call will take one minute or less.”
Senate Standing Committee on Public Safety:
Senator Steven Bradford (Chair)
(916) 651-4035
Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (Vice Chair)
(916) 651-4023
Senator Sydney Kamlager
(916) 651-4030
Senator Nancy Skinner
(916) 651-4009
Senator Scott D. Wiener
(916) 651-4011
Senate Bill 615 was introduced on February 22 and would harm the LGBTQ community by requiring the registration of individuals convicted of certain sexual acts with a minor more than three years younger than the registrant. Current law, established by former Senate Bill 145, provides judges with discretion to determine whether an individual is required to register for those acts with a minor up to 10 years younger than the registrant.
Talking points are available on the sample letter which ACSOL provided to the Senate Public Safety Committee soon after its introduction. Download PDF of letter for SB 615 – OPPOSE – March 2021_000573
Related:
How to send a letter opposing SB 615
Read the bill and look at the status
In case this is helpful for anyone, and I don’t want to make anybody obsessive over this for the sake of their mental health if you look up the bill on legal info it should be updated if/when the bill is set for a hearing.
How does this bill harm the LGBTQ community? This has been posted several times on here with no explanation? Does this bill say it only applies to LGBTQ folks? Please explain…
The bill’s up for a hearing in public safety. I just checked. I think the best thing we could do right now would be to bombard Bradford with emails telling him to cancel the hearing. Committee hearings in the senate are subject to call of the chair after all. It’s the only politically viable option given this state’s potential for right wing backlash.
Uh this isn’t really about lgbeans it’s about tightening the statute. Either way it’s not a good thing it’s just another one of those easy to pass “what if” bills that seeks to make a solution before a problem exists.
This is how Political Cred is thought to be gained when the system is gamed like this by politicians who cannot really come up with meaningful and worthwhile political bills for consideration. Reducing the time from 10 years to 3 and taking judicial power out of the Judge’s hands (which, btw, goes against the checks and balance of the system) really does not take any sort of serious thinking as an elected official or their staffs.
I don’t know the onus for 10 vs 3 years but are there other CA laws where 3 years is a standard age differentiation for similar laws? Is it possible she is bringing this in line with them if they exist?
SB 615 hearing by the public safety committee is scheduled for April 27th.
just called all five senators. Spoke with 2 of the offices and left messages at other 2, one # didn’t work I’ll try later
@ Charlene, did any of the staffers give you any insight into what Senator Bradford thinks of the bill?
I made the letters and calls!
Regarding both the CA Action Alerts that are active now, we all need to take part in all action alerts even if we don’t think a particular issue affects us directly.
If we don’t, why should we expect others to support us when there are issues that affect our specific situations?
Senate Bill 615 is scheduled for consideration by the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203. The Committee requests that the public participate in the hearing via teleconference. Details for the teleconference can be found online at https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/agenda. ACSOL will participate by teleconference and urge others to do the same if possible. ACSOL also urges calls to the offices of the Senate Public Safety Committee between now and April 27.
I am confused by this law and the adjoining request to oppose it. I thought ANY sexual contact with a minor was a registrable offense. At least for the straight community it is. Or am I missing something.
Bill’s dead. Apparently miss Melendez cancelled the hearing.