Just filed today, by our lawyers at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Adam Steinbaugh, JT Morris & Zachary Silver) and the Coalition’s David Snyder and David Loy. We are challenging Cal. Penal Code § 851.92(c), which provides,
Unless specifically authorized by this section, a person or entity, other than a criminal justice agency or the person whose arrest was sealed, who disseminates information relating to a sealed arrest is subject to a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per violation. The civil penalty may be enforced by a city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General. This subdivision does not limit any existing private right of action. A civil penalty imposed under this section shall be cumulative to civil remedies or penalties imposed under any other law.
Speaking for myself, I’d like to write about a particular lawsuit and particular government actions that stem from the publication of information relating to a sealed arrest—but any detailed post on these matters would itself end up containing such information, and would thus itself violate the statute. We’re trying to block the enforcement of the statute, relying on precedents such as Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. (1979), which struck down a state law barring the publication of the names of juvenile defendants. I hope to be able to blog more about the case as it proceeds, and especially once we get an injunction.
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