Title: An act relating to the privacy of personal information of criminal justice officials.

Brief Description: Protecting the privacy of personal information of criminal justice officials.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Senators Prentice, Esser, Oke and Kohl-Welles).

Hearing Date: 2/22/06

Staff: Bill Perry (786-7123).

Background:

A federal district court struck down a statute that prohibited publishing personal information about law enforcement, corrections and court personnel if the publication was done with the intent to harm or intimidate the person about whom the information was published. The statute prohibited publication of:

• residential address;
• residential telephone number;
• birth date; or
• Social Security Number.

A person harmed by such an unauthorized publication was allowed to recover actual damages plus court costs.

In Sheehan v. Gregoire, the federal district court held that this statute was unconstitutionally over broad and vague in that it prohibited the publication of truthful and lawfully obtained information, and it was unclear as to what "speech" was being prohibited. The court found that the the statute was content based, and it lacked reference to any objective standards. The statute was not narrowly constructed to address only a form of unprotected speed such as speech that amounts to a "true threat." In order to constitute a "true threat," and therefore be subject to regulation, speech must be likely in the eyes of a reasonable person to produce or incite imminent lawless action. The court held that the statute violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal constitution because it prohibited pure speech based solely on the speaker's subjective intent.

Summary of Bill:

Knowingly making certain personal information available on the world wide web is prohibited if the information poses an imminent and serious threat to the person concerned and that threat is reasonably apparent to the person making the information available.

This prohibition applies to personal information about the following persons or their families:

• peace officers;
• corrections persons;
• judges and court commissioners;
• public defenders; and
• prosecutors.

The prohibition applies to the following types of information:

• home address;
• home telephone number;
• pager number;
• Social Security Number;
• home email address;
• directions to the person's home; and
• photographs of the person's home or vehicle.

Good faith publication of information by a county auditor or assessor in the ordinary course of business is not prohibited.

A person who is harmed by publication of information prohibited by this provision may recover actual damages, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, plus punitive damages of up to $10,000.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.