California Governor Signs Controversial Assembly Bill 1671

[proverbialwisdom]

http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-secret-recordings-like-those-in-1475264654-htmlstory.html

Distributing secret recordings like those in Planned Parenthood case now a crime in California

Sept. 30, 2016 12:58 p.m.
By John Myers

Distributing secret recordings involving healthcare conversations will become a crime in California in 2017, under a new law inspired by the high-profile case involving videos of Planned Parenthood employees discussing abortion procedures.

Gov. Jerry Brown's signature on Assembly Bill 1671 came after last-minute changes to the bill seeking to ensure journalists wouldn't be prosecuted for the use of video, audio or transcripts they are given but did not help to record.

Existing law focuses on the illegal nature of the recording itself, not what happens to any copies of the recording.

Planned Parenthood, a sponsor of AB 1671, argued that the new law is necessary in the wake of the controversial videos taped by David Daleiden and other anti-abortion activists that purport to show Planned Parenthood employees illegally trafficking in fetal tissue.

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Related: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-compromise-struck-on-1472576901-htmlstory.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/440611/california-whistleblower-law-governor-brown-signs-bill-criminalizing-whistleblowing

California Governor Signs Bill to Criminalize Whistleblowing

by Alexandra DeSanctis
September 30, 2016 4:23 PM

Today, California governor Jerry Brown announced that he had signed Assembly Bill 1671, a measure criminalizing many forms of whistleblowing in the health-care industry. The law makes it an alternate felony-misdemeanor offense to intentionally distribute, or to aid and abet the distribution of, a confidential communication with a health-care provider that was obtained unlawfully. As I reported previously at National Review Online, the bill was drafted with the assistance of Planned Parenthood in order to intimidate potential whistleblowers such as David Daleiden and his group, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), which was responsible for a series of videos in summer 2015 depicting evidence of the abortion giant’s engagement in illegal fetal-tissue trafficking.

Just this week, a series of emails were accessed via a Public Records Act request, revealing that the office of California attorney general Kamala Harris collaborated with Planned Parenthood’s California affiliate to draft AB 1761. The emails show several drafts of the bill being sent from Beth Parker, chief legal counsel for California Planned Parenthood, and Jill Habig, who was serving as special counsel to Harris at the time.

Though legal experts note that attorneys general occasionally play a role in the legislative process, the emails in question are evidence of Harris’ office colluding with Planned Parenthood in order to protect the group from criminal prosecution. Additionally, Daleiden’s attorney Steve Cooley told the Washington Times that Planned Parenthood provided the attorney general’s office with probable cause to raid Daleiden’s apartment and seize his personal property while he was still in the process of consulting a lawyer.

“This is going after an individual, a single person who was operating as a citizen journalist. And all the activity and the timing of it all strongly suggests a real partnership between the attorney general and Planned Parenthood,” Cooley added.

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[shenmue]

1. I wish I had a Democratic governor

but I'm stuck with mo-ron Rick Scott.