King Hall Partners with California Law Revision Commission to Review State's Electronic Surveillance Laws
UC Davis School of Law students are working with the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) to study state laws regulating government access to consumer information held by wireless phone service providers, social media, and other communications companies. Working with the CLRC, King Hall students are reviewing existing statutes to determine whether they need to be revised to reflect changes in communications technology.
The study comes at the request of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who as a state senator in 2013 sponsored a resolution calling for CLRC's review. King Hall students including Anthony Hoisington '15, Heather Zimmerman '15, Emily Jeng '15, Justin Lee '15, and Tyler Sonksen '15 have participated in the study. The CLRC issued a preliminary report in April and is now soliciting public comments.
Padilla's resolution also called upon the CLRC to review conditions under which government agencies may interrupt communications services, an issue that came to forefront after officials at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) shut down wireless services in an attempt to stop text messages by individuals organizing protests at BART stations in 2011. Bryanna Brandalesi '16 has worked on that study.
The California Law Revision Commission is a non-partisan state entity that studies state laws in order to discover defects and anachronisms and make detailed proposals for statutory reforms. It is the body the state Legislature turns to for in-depth, substantive analysis of complex legal problems, and more than 90 percent of the CLRC's recommendations ultimately become law.
Since 2010, the CLRC's main office has been housed in King Hall. Executive Director Brian Hebert said that the School of Law's partnership with CLRC provides unique externship opportunities for students interested in learning about the legislative process.
"If you're interested in legislative work, having worked for us demonstrates that interest and provides relevant experience," said Hebert.