STOP CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL 1614

To:  California State Governor and Legislature

To: The Governor of California and the California State Legislature

As Citizens of the United States and California, we petition Governor Davis and the California State Legislature as follows:

STOP SENATE BILL 1614

IN YOUR OFFICES AND IN PERFORMANCE OF YOUR OFFICIAL DUTIES, HONOR THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT AND PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS TO FREELY ACCESS THE CALIFORNIA BIRTH AND DEATH INDICES.

We urge Governor Davis, The California State Senate, and the California State Assembly to heed the protections of the California Public Records Act.
Continue to provide freedom of information and full public access to the California Birth and Death indices, as provided by the State's Department of
Health Services.

We stand upon these principles:

1. The California Public Records Act proclaims that we have a right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. It is
a fundamental and necessary right of every person in the State of California. (Government Code Section 6250)


2. Despite all the scare talk and unexamined assumptions about the link between identity theft and easy access to the indices, no such link has been demonstrated.

3. There are many productive and publicly supported pursuits that SB 1614 would eliminate altogether or make prohibitively difficult, including but not limited to research by: genealogists, historical councils, journalists, adopted adults, probate researchers, bankers, financial institutions, insurance companies, and private investigators.

4. The State of California sold the comprehensive birth and death indices to private entities, many of which charge a fee for access. SB 1614 will prevent the State from providing these same records directly to the public, at no fee. The California Public Records Act does not allow the state to sell, exchange, furnish, or otherwise provide a public record subject to disclosure to a private entity in a manner that prevents a state or local agency from providing the record directly to the public. (Government Code Section 6270)

In a nutshell: “If you can’t show it’s broke, don’t break something else to fix it.”

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The STOP CALIFORNIA SENATE BILL 1614 Petition to California State Governor and Legislature was created by California and U.S. citizens and written by Nina Anne M. Greeley.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc.  For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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