Legislative Review

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Legislative Review Update

A.B. 2357: Victims of Domestic Violence Employment Leave Act:
Introduced by Assembly Member Honda

Amends §230 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
The Victims of Domestic Violence Employment Leave Act prohibits discrimination, discharge or retaliation if the employee victim takes time off to obtain medical aid, to seek assistance from a domestic violence program, to receive psychological counseling, or to arrange for safety measures appropriate under the circumstances. The employee must provide the employer with reasonable advance notice of the absence. Further, the employer must maintain the confidentiality of an employee who receives time off under any provision of this act.

Amends §803 of the Penal Code.
This statute allows prosecution of certain sex offenses within 1 year after DNA testing has linked a named suspect to an offense regardless of the applicable statute of limitation, or up to 10 years after the crime, whichever is longer. For example, a person identified by DNA testing as a possible rapist 8 years after the crime occurred could still be prosecuted for rape within 2 years after the DNA test was done, even though the applicable 6-year statute of limitations had already run, because the DNA identification was within 10 years of the crime. However, if a DNA identification for the same rape was not done until 11 years after the crime, the person identified could only be prosecuted within 1 year after the DNA identification because the 6-year statute of limitations has run and the crime occurred more than 10 years prior.

A.B. 1897: Identity Theft. Remedies:
Sponsored by Assembly Member Davis.
Amends §530.5 and adds §530.6 to the Penal Code.
This amendment requires the police to take a report from any person who knows or reasonably suspects his or her identity is being used illegally and to give a copy of that report to the person. The police would then begin an investigation or refer the report to the appropriate jurisdiction for an investigation. This bill also allows a person who reasonably believes that he or she has been a victim of identity theft to petition a court for an expedited judicial determination of his or her factual innocence and receive from the court an order certifying a finding of innocence.
S.B. 1368: Child Abandonment: Newborns:
Introduced by Senator Brulte

Adds §§1255.7 and 14005.24 to the Health and Safety Code and §271.5 to the Penal Code and amends §§300, 309 and 361.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Existing law makes it a crime for a parent of a child under the age of fourteen to desert the child with the intent to abandon, or knowingly abandon, or refuse to care for the child (Penal Code §§271, 271a). S.B. 1368 provides immunity from criminal prosecution for a parent or legal custodian of a child 72 hours or younger for the crime of child abandonment if he or she voluntarily surrenders physical custody of the child to a designated official at a hospital or other agency designated by the Board of Supervisors. This bill allows the parent fourteen days to reclaim custody of the infant.
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