SB 873: Courthouses: privilege from civil arrest.

Existing law prohibits a person from being subject to civil arrest in a courthouse while attending a court proceeding or having legal business in a courthouse, except pursuant to a valid judicial warrant. Existing law confers specified powers to judicial officers, including to preserve and enforce order in the officers immediate presence and in proceedings before the officer, to compel obedience to the officers lawful orders, and to prohibit activities that threaten access to courthouses and court proceedings, including protecting the privilege from civil arrest at courthouses and court proceedings.

This bill would prohibit a person from being subject to civil arrest while traveling to, while present at, or while traveling from a courthouse for any lawful activity, as defined. The bill would authorize a court to issue appropriate judicial orders to protect the privilege from civil arrest. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action to obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief if the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of these provisions has occurred or is imminent. The bill would also authorize a person who has been subject to civil arrest to bring a civil action for appropriate equitable and declaratory relief and civil damages, including actual damages and statutory damages of $10,000. The bill would authorize the person a party in a successful action to recover court costs and reasonable attorneys fees.

This bill would require the Judicial Council to promulgate rules necessary to ensure specified requirements, including, among other things, that any representative of a local, state, or federal law enforcement agency who, while acting in an official capacity, enters a courthouse intending to arrest an individual identify themselves to uniformed court court security personnel, state their specific law enforcement purpose and the intended enforcement action to be taken, and provide court personnel with a copy of a valid judicial warrant concerning the intended enforcement action to be taken. The bill would require courts to maintain data regarding activities undertaken by law enforcement personnel at courthouses and provide that data to the Judicial Council. The bill would require the Judicial Council to annually prepare a report compiling statistics related to law enforcement agencies engaging in law enforcement activity of any kind at courthouses, as specified, and to post the report on its public internet website and on the California Courts Judicial Branch of California internet website.

This bill would also make related findings and declarations and specify that the provisions of this act are severable.