Free Republic

Legislation to restrict public access to financial records in California divorce cases was placed on the Assembly's inactive file Thursday. State Sen. Kevin Murray, a Culver City Democrat who crafted the measure, Senate Bill 1015, shelved the bill after Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez proposed major amendments in response to concerns by various female lawmakers and women's advocacy groups. The bill, as written by Murray, would not limit spouses' access to sensitive financial information but would allow automatic redaction from public files of net worth, annual salary, Social Security numbers, home addresses, and balances of bank or broker accounts upon request...

Despite the honest policy disputes over Kevin Murray's bill to seal financial records in divorce cases, the debate over S.B. 1015 has focused on just about everything but policy. The story of this bill is a story of how lawmakers and advocates make political calculations. It is about how to know when you're beat, and about cutting your losses to limit the political damage that your opposition may inflict on you down the road. To some, it is a tale of political cowardice. To others, it is a tale of the ultimate political pragmatism and democracy in action. It is...

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...

For the second time in two years, California lawmakers are pushing a bill that serves the interests of a billionaire who wants to privatize California's system of public courts and limit access to judicial records. The billionaire, Ronald W. Burkle, is a former supermarket magnate and a big contributor to the Democratic Party. --snip-- Two years ago, Burkle was unable to convince a judge to seal most of his divorce records, so he pressed lawmakers to hastily pass a law that would require judges, upon a party's motion, to seal any documents that mention a party's financial assets. That 2004...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a bill to allow a divorcing spouse to keep financial records private, less than a month after a court struck down a similar law that opponents contend was passed to help a wealthy campaign donor. Earlier this month, Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City, took over a Senate bill dealing with homeland security that was awaiting action in the Assembly and turned it into a measure dealing with financial records in divorce cases. It would require a court to seal certain financial records at the request of one of the spouses in a...