>______________________________X-Message: #1 >Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 14:56:24 -0700 >From: "James Mahan" <jrmahan@worldnet.att.net> >To: PALM-GEN-L@rootsweb.com >Message-ID: <000501c20437$07ca8360$0c1c480c@computer> >Subject: [PALM-GEN] California Senate Bill 1614 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" > >Please you California residents contact your elected officials and put a >STOP TO THIS! > > - California Senate Bill 1614 Threatens To Close Genealogy Records > >California Senate Bill 1614 is a threat to all genealogists. >First, it threatens anyone researching California families since >this bill, if passed, will reduce access to California records. >Secondly, it threatens all genealogists as this could become a >precedent, encouraging other states to similarly restrict access >to birth and death records. > >The passage of California Senate Bill 1614 will close the indexes >to both birth and death records. These indexes will then be >replaced by a "noncomprehensive index" that can only be viewed at >the California Department of Health Services and/or in individual >county recorders offices. No indexes would be available online, on >CD-ROM or in print in any other place. > >The legislative do-gooders have proposed this obnoxious >legislation as a method of preventing identity theft. However, >neither the California State Department of Health Services nor any >of the county clerks have ever found any incidents where present >identity thefts could be linked to either the sale of birth or >death certificates or to these indexes. In other words, this piece >of legislation is being proposed because someone thinks that there >might be a future problem, not because of any recognized past or >present issue. The impact to genealogists, however, will be felt >immediately if this proposed legislation becomes law. > >Senate Bill 1614, "Closure of the Birth and Death Records >Indexes," passed the California Judiciary Committee on May 7, >2002. It had a rather silly amendment tacked onto it, requiring >that people who have already purchased the public domain indexes >in the past to now keep the information within the indexes >confidential. This retroactive prohibition of previously produced >public domain data seems a bit far-fetched to me. > >Senate Bill 1614 will next be heard in the Appropriations >Committee. If it is passed in the Appropriations Committee, it >will then go to the Floor of the Senate for a vote. If it passes >there, it will go to the State Assembly. Two rules committees in >the Assembly must also hear it. Because of the nature of the bill, >it should be referred to the Judiciary and then to the >Appropriations Committees, in that order. > >You can follow the developments of this bill on the California >State Genealogical Alliance Web site at: >http://www.csga.com/legislative_watch.htm. > >California residents: please contact your state senators and >representatives today to tell them your opinion of this bill. You >can find the name and e-mail address of your senator at: >http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp and the >name and e-mail of your Assemblyman at: >http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp.