Capital Accounts is an occasional chronicle of the intersection of politics and legal policy in Sacramento.
Witnesses. Schwarzenegger signed legislation beefing up the state’s witness protection program and allowing courts to issue protective orders lasting up to 10 years.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Californians. New civil rights laws will ban discrimination in government services and schoolyard bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity. SB 559 will also protect surviving domestic partners from having their property taxes reassessed.
Rubber duckies. AB 1108 will ban the use of phthalates in children’s toys. Can a federal preemption lawsuit by manufacturers be far behind?
The losers:
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. Schwarzenegger vetoed commission-sponsored bills that would have discouraged the use of “snitch” testimony, required the recording of some interrogations, and revamped the way police use line-ups and photos to identify suspects.
The governor’s vetoes “leave it up to every police department and sheriff’s department to do what it wishes,” Commission Chairman and former Attorney General John Van de Kamp said in a press release Monday.
Schwarzenegger said the bills would have hampered investigators’ ability to solve crimes.
Employment lawyers. AB 1043 would have banned employers from forcing workers to agree to settle disputes under the laws of another state. Schwarzenegger called the bill “a solution in search of a problem” and vetoed it.
Consumer attorneys. The governor also shot down a bill that would have banned so-called gag clauses in legal settlements with nurses, therapists and others licensed by the state for practicing “healing arts.” Such clauses prevent consumers from reporting settlement-related complaints to state regulators.
Kangaroos. The state Supreme Court in July refused to overturn a California law banning the importation of kangaroo hides used to make soccer shoes and other products. But the Legislature reversed itself with SB 880, which the governor signed into law. Certain ‘roos are OK for shoes now.
Marsupials, beware.
