Posted on 04/26/2006 7:27:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
An Assembly committee voted Wednesday to allow judges to edit personal and financial information out of divorce records if a spouse requests the information be kept private.
The Appropriations Committee endorsed a bill that supporters framed as critical to privacy and identity theft prevention, but opponents warned would lock the public out of court proceedings.
A 12-3 vote sent the measure to the full Assembly.
"In every case, whether you are rich or poor, everything down to the balance in your checking account is available to the public," said Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, the bill's author. "I just don't see any reason for that."
Women's organizations, judicial groups and First Amendment advocates lined up in the committee room to urge lawmakers to reject the bill over public access and equality issues.
Tracy Kenny, legislative advocate of the Judicial Council of California, said the courts will look like they have something to hide if judges make divorce records secret and then rule on the case.
"While we recognize information in the file is of course sensitive and private to many people, we also recognize that if it appears the court is making decisions in secret that may enhance existing perceptions out in the public that there is some kind of unfairness going on in these cases," Kenny said.
The Legislature in 2004 approved a broader bill that gave judges the authority to seal entire divorce records.
The California Newspapers Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press challenged the law, and a state appeals court struck it down. Critics said it was designed to help billionaire Ron Burkle, a major campaign contributor who was in the midst of divorce proceedings.
The revised bill would permit a judge to edit out Social Security numbers, home addresses, banking information, annual salaries, income and net worth.
"Actual listing of financial information of individuals gives no benefit to the public other than maybe the newspapers' ability to sell papers based upon salacious details of someone's financial privacy," Murray said.
Besides Murray, no one spoke in favor of the bill, but the Family Law Group within the State Bar and the California Alliance for Families and Children are listed as supporters.
Where's the ACLU? I thought they were all for the right to privacy.
The ACLU is otherwise occupied. Their top priority is dishing everything Republican. The fact that men do not like looking after their wives and children once they have found greener pastures is just not important to them. If they had vision, they would understand that it is one of the most important decisions made by the courts, it can prevent all sorts of social disorders if handled in the proper perspective, and women can be free to raise the next generation without the deprivation and scars on the children involved that usually result from a divorce.
This of course, does not apply to the very few women who are at fault in a marriage.
Burkle buys his own secrecy law. How sweet.
So much for government and the courts being accountable to the people.
Despite the obvious hatred of both the attorneys and the agreived parties in the case, we both always wondered whether there just might have been some reconciliation in their mutual hatred of us - that just might have transcended their hatred of one another - that we should dare violate the sanctity of their separation.
This is redundant. As the law stands now, one can get around having financial data put in the divorce file. It means your lawyer has to be a little smarter and do a little extra work but that's all.
And once the case is finished, even if there is financial data in the court's file, there's a little box to check on one of the forms that tells the court to seal the financial stuff.
So I wonder what this proposed law is really all about?
Thanks, I needed a good laugh.
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