Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 120
02/01/2007 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB25 | |
| HB7 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 7-FALSE CALLER IDENTIFICATION 1:43:20 PM VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 7, "An Act relating to false caller identification." REPRESENTATIVE LYNN, speaking as a prime sponsor of HB 7, noted that a conceptual amendment would be offered in an effort to address concerns brought up at a previous committee hearing. 1:44:18 PM DIRK MOFFATT, staff to Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State Legislature, one of the bills' prime sponsors, explained that the conceptual amendment before the committee was intended to address multiple caller identification offenses. A person who exceeds five offenses is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. If a person enters false information into a system which automatically calls thousands of people, each display would count as one offence. If this information is entered into an individual call system the same rule would apply. Each display on the caller ID screen would be considered a separate act, regardless of whether or not the information is the same. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL inquired as to the difference between a class A misdemeanor and a class B misdemeanor. MR. MOFFATT explained that a "class A misdemeanor" carries a sentence of up to one year in prison, while a "class B misdemeanor" carries a three month sentence. 1:47:16 PM VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM questioned whether Representative Samuels had seen conceptual amendment 5. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked that the bill be held over, in order to give Legislative Legal and Research Services time to incorporate any conceptual amendments that may be adopted, thus allowing the committee to "look at it in context." REPRESENTATIVE LYNN agreed that this would be a good idea. 1:49:12 PM ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Legal Services Section-Juneau, Criminal Division, Department of Law (DOL), expressed concern with the addition of "intent to defraud or cause harm." She stated that "intent to defraud" is defined in [AS 11.46.990]; however "cause harm" is unclear. She offered her understanding that this is used in federal law, although it is not a term used in state criminal law. She recommended the removal of this language, as "intent to defraud" is broadly defined and would most likely cover the instances in question. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stated that the aforementioned statute should be referenced in HB 7. MS. CARPENETI agreed. In regard to the penalty, she suggested that in Section 2(c), language similar to "violation of A of this section is a class B misdemeanor, if the information is forwarded to less than 25 telephones, and it's a class A misdemeanor if the information is forwarded to 25 or more telephones" be added. 1:51:32 PM MS. CARPENETI, in response to a question from Vice Chair Dahlstrom, explained that the definition of "intent to defraud" be inserted after line 5 on page 2. In addition, she explained that line 4 of page 1 be reworded to reflect this language. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if this would be incorporated into the new committee substitute (CS). VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM replied yes. MS. CARPENETI also agreed. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG stated that he does not object to this. REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM noted that this would be conceptual Amendment 6. [Although no formal motion was made, conceptual Amendment 6 was treated as adopted.] REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG pointed out that an amendment is needed to delete the phrase "or cause harm." He explained that "spoofing" means to use another persons name and phone number in order to give a misimpression of who is actually calling. This might be done for a variety of reasons, he said, adding that to defraud is only one reason. He commented that this may also be used to stalk, intimidate, or threaten. He opined that "intent to defraud" narrows the scope of the bill. 1:54:32 PM MS. CARPENETI, referring to AS 11.46.990, reiterated that the definition of "intent to defraud" is "pretty broad," and opined that this would cover the aforementioned situations. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said that while he has no objection to this, he would like to ensure that no cases unintentionally "fall between the cracks." MR. MOFFATT agreed. VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM stated her intention to hold the bill until the next committee hearing, thus allowing the sponsor(s) time to meet with members to address concerns, in addition to addressing the aforementioned conceptual amendments. She noted that conceptual amendment 5 was not moved or adopted. 1:57:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE LYNN, referring to Conceptual Amendment 5, suggested changing the minimum for a class A misdemeanor from 5 to 25. VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM recommended incorporating this into [a committee substitute (CS)]. MS. CARPENETI, in response to a question from Representative Gruenberg, offered her understanding that the ability to obtain phone records makes it easier to prosecute these cases. She said "if you have one piece of information ... that reached 1,000 phones, I don't know that it would be that difficult to get the records to prove that." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG suggested that this be considered prior to the next meeting. VICE CHAIR DAHLSTROM requested that the sponsor(s) research this issue in order to come up with a reasonable number. [HB 7 was held over.]
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