Today, our legal team at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Adam Steinbaugh, JT Morris, & Zachary Silver) and the Coalition’s David Snyder and David Loy filed a lawsuit challenging Cal. Penal Code § 851.92(c). This statute imposes civil penalties on individuals or entities who disseminate information related to sealed arrests without specific authorization.
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.
We are aiming to block the enforcement of this statute, drawing on precedents such as Smith v. Daily Mail Publishing Co. (1979), which invalidated a state law prohibiting the publication of juvenile defendants’ names. While I wish to delve into the details of the lawsuit and government actions arising from the publication of sealed arrest information, doing so would violate the statute. We look forward to sharing more insights on the case as it progresses, especially once we secure an injunction.
The article “<i>First Amendment Coalition, LaRoe & Volokh v. Chiu</i>” was originally published on Reason.com.
