{"id":128680,"date":"2016-10-18T17:30:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T21:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=128680"},"modified":"2016-10-18T14:40:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T18:40:46","slug":"new-ca-law-protecting-planned-parenthood-may-silence-whistleblowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/new-ca-law-protecting-planned-parenthood-may-silence-whistleblowers\/","title":{"rendered":"New California law protecting Planned Parenthood may “silence whistleblowers”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A\u00a0few weeks ago, California Governor\u00a0Jerry Brown signed AB 1671<\/a> into law, criminalizing the recording or distribution of conversations with healthcare providers. Becausing existing laws in California already criminalize recording private conversations, many view the bill as an assault on journalism and free speech.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0California Family Council<\/a>\u00a0previously\u00a0urged Governor Jerry Brown to veto the bill<\/a>, saying:<\/p>\n

This is an attempt to silence whistleblowers who exposed that [Planned Parenthood was] engaging in exceedingly unethical, if not downright criminal, activity.\u00a0 Existing California laws already protect confidential speech.\u00a0 The new crimes, rights of action, and penalties AB 1671 authorizes do nothing to preserve privacy, but a lot to chill free speech and investigative reporting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John-Michael Seibler, a legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, says the California law is an example of “overcriminalization.” He\u00a0writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Overcriminalization occurs when lawmakers try to punish people who make mistakes \u2014 often without any intent of breaking a law \u2014 with harsh criminal penalties. It\u2019s a mindset that has helped create almost 5,000 criminal laws \u2014 and 300,000 regulations carrying criminal penalties \u2014 at the federal level alone….<\/p>\n

[T]he law effectively criminalizes whistleblowing by \u201ca patient who sees her doctor handing out opioid prescriptions like candy, or a farm worker who catches a veterinarian approving a sick cow for the slaughterhouse….\u201d<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood’s success at raising the criminal penalties and civil liability of potential undercover journalists and whistleblowers will likely embolden other politically favored groups to abuse criminal law by urging lawmakers to craft new criminal laws designed to cater to and protect them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n