An Assembly committee voted in favor of a bill that would permit judges to edit personal and financial information out of divorce records, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, banking information, annual salaries, income, and net worth.
Supporters argued that the bill protects individual privacy and prevents identity theft. Opponents, however, view the bill as an unfair barrier to public access of information and one that raises issues of equality.
“In every case, whether you are rich or poor, everything down to the balance in your checking account is available to the public,” said the author of the bill, Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Culver City. “I just don’t see any reason for that.”
Some groups, including First Amendment rights advocates, disagree, contending that such secrecy has no place in the courts. The bill would only enhance negative perceptions of the judicial system if the public thinks the court has something to hide, according to Tracy Kenny, legislative advocate of the Judicial Council of California.
“Actual listing of financial information of individuals gives no benefit to the public other than maybe the newspapers’ ability to sell papers based upon salacious details of someone’s financial privacy,” Murray said.
A state appeals court has already struck down a challenge to the law by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press.
Critics of the bill also argued that it was devised to help Ron Burkle, a billionaire in the middle of divorce proceedings who is also major campaign contributor.
Judges already have the authority to seal entire divorce records as part of a broader bill approved by the Legislature in 2004.