California Assembly Bill AB1100 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1100AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Assembly  Member   Bloom   Members   Low   and Bloom  FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act to amend Section  422 of the Penal Code, relating to criminal threats.   9001 of the Elections Code, relating to ballot initiatives.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1100, as amended,  Bloom   Low  .  Crimes: criminal threats.   Ballot initiatives: filing fees.   Existing law requires a fee of $200 to be paid by the proponents when a proposed ballot initiative or referendum is submitted to the Attorney General for preparation of a circulating title and summary.   This bill would increase the filing fee from $200 to $8,000. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.   Existing law provides that a person is guilty of a crime if he or she willfully threatens to commit a crime that will result in death or great bodily injury to another person with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, as specified.   This bill would clarify that this provision also applies when the threatening statement is published on an Internet Web page.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 9001 of the   Elections Code   is amended to read:  9001. (a)  Prior to   Before  the circulation of  any   an  initiative or referendum petition for signatures, the text of the proposed measure shall be submitted to the Attorney General with a written request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure be prepared. The electors presenting the request shall be known as the "proponents." The Attorney General shall preserve the written request until after the next general election. (b) Each and every proponent of  any   a  proposed initiative measure shall, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed measure, provide both of the following: (1) An original signed certification stating that "I, (insert name), declare under penalty of perjury that I am a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, and a resident of (insert county), California." (2) Public contact information. (c) The proponents of  any   an  initiative measure, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed measure to the Attorney General, shall pay a fee  of two hundred dollars ($200), which   to the Attorney General of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) that  shall be placed in a trust fund in the office of the Treasurer and refunded to the proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within two years from the date the summary is furnished to the proponents. If the measure does not qualify within that period, the fee shall be immediately paid into the General Fund of the state. (d) All referenda and proposed initiative measures must be submitted to the Attorney General's Initiative Coordinator located in the Sacramento Attorney General's Office via U.S. Postal Service, alternative mail service, or personal delivery. Only printed documents will be accepted, facsimile or e-mail delivery will not be accepted. (e) The Attorney General's office shall not deem a request for a circulating title and summary submitted until all of the requirements of this section are met.  SECTION 1.   Section 422 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 422. (a) Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, including publication on an Internet Web page, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison. (b) For purposes of this section, "immediate family" means any spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior six months, regularly resided in the household. (c) "Electronic communication device" includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular telephones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. "Electronic communication" has the same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.