Features

SB67 Vehicle Speed Contests  

and Reckless Driving  

Senator Don Perata (D-Oakland) 

Renewal of the original 2002 legislation, aimed specifically at Oakland’s sideshows, which allowed cars to be towed and held for 30 days solely on a police officer’s word that the car was being used in “vehicle speed contests” (the legal definition of “spinning donuts” and other auto activity related to sideshows). 

Passed the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday unanimously (13-0) with additions of what the committee legislative analyst calls “technical amendments.” Now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee as a formality, with no hearing scheduled, and will go immediately to the full Assembly. As an “urgency” measure, a two-thirds vote is needed. 

SB1019 Peace Officer Records;  

Confidentiality 

Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), Co-Author Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) 

Dead, apparently, for the year. 

This bill would reopen civilian review board hearings to the public in cities across the state (including Oakland and Berkeley) that were closed following a recent ruling by the California State Supreme Court in Copley Press, Inc. v. The Superior Court of San Diego County. 

The bill was heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, but after testimony from both sides, committee members decided to hold the bill in committee without a vote, effectively killing the legislation for the year. State Senator Gloria Romero says the issue is not over, and she will reintroduce the bill next year.