Bill Text: CA AB2116 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Judges: gifts and honoraria.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-08-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 206, Statutes of 2010. [AB2116 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2116-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2116 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 206
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 27, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 27, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 5, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Evans
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to amend Section 170.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
relating to judges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2116, Evans. Judges: gifts and honoraria.
Existing law limits the monetary value of gifts that may be
accepted by judges and prohibits judges from accepting any
honorarium. The Commission on Judicial Performance is required to
enforce these prohibitions.
This bill would make those provisions applicable to subordinate
judicial officers. The bill would require the court employing the
subordinate judicial officer to exercise initial jurisdiction, and
the Commission on Judicial Performance to exercise discretionary
jurisdiction, to enforce those prohibitions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 170.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
170.9. (a) A judge shall not accept gifts from a single source in
a calendar year with a total value of more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250). This section shall not be construed to authorize the
receipt of gifts that would otherwise be prohibited by the California
Code of Judicial Ethics adopted by the California Supreme Court or
any other law.
(b) This section shall not prohibit or limit the following:
(1) Payments, advances, or reimbursements for travel and related
lodging and subsistence permitted by subdivision (e).
(2) Wedding gifts and gifts exchanged between individuals on
birthdays, holidays, and other similar occasions, if the gifts
exchanged are not substantially disproportionate in value.
(3) A gift, bequest, favor, or loan from a person whose
preexisting relationship with a judge would prevent the judge from
hearing a case involving that person, under the Code of Judicial
Ethics adopted by the California Supreme Court.
(c) For purposes of this section, "judge" includes all of the
following:
(1) Judges of the superior courts.
(2) Justices of the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court.
(3) Subordinate judicial officers, as defined in Section 71601 of
the Government Code.
(d) The gift limitation amounts in this section shall be adjusted
biennially by the Commission on Judicial Performance to reflect
changes in the Consumer Price Index, rounded to the nearest ten
dollars ($10).
(e) Payments, advances, or reimbursements, for travel, including
actual transportation and related lodging and subsistence that is
reasonably related to a judicial or governmental purpose, or to an
issue of state, national, or international public policy, is not
prohibited or limited by this section if any of the following apply:
(1) The travel is in connection with a speech, practice
demonstration, or group or panel discussion given or participated in
by the judge, the lodging and subsistence expenses are limited to the
day immediately preceding, the day of, and the day immediately
following the speech, demonstration, or discussion, and the travel is
within the United States.
(2) The travel is provided by a government, a governmental agency
or authority, a foreign government, a foreign bar association, an
international service organization, a bona fide public or private
educational institution, as defined in Section 203 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code, or a nonprofit charitable or religious organization
that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code, or by a person domiciled outside the United States who
substantially satisfies the requirements for tax exempt status under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
For purposes of this section, "foreign bar association" means an
association of attorneys located outside the United States (A) that
performs functions substantially equivalent to those performed by
state or local bar associations in this state and (B) that permits
membership by attorneys in that country representing various legal
specialties and does not limit membership to attorneys generally
representing one side or another in litigation. "International
service organization" means a bona fide international service
organization of which the judge is a member. A judge who accepts
travel payments from an international service organization pursuant
to this subdivision shall not preside over or participate in
decisions affecting that organization, its state or local chapters,
or its local members.
(3) The travel is provided by a state or local bar association or
judges professional association in connection with testimony before a
governmental body or attendance at any professional function hosted
by the bar association or judges professional association, the
lodging and subsistence expenses are limited to the day immediately
preceding, the day of, and the day immediately following the
professional function.
(f) Payments, advances, and reimbursements for travel not
described in subdivision (e) are subject to the limit in subdivision
(a).
(g) No judge shall accept any honorarium.
(h) "Honorarium" means a payment made in consideration for any
speech given, article published, or attendance at a public or private
conference, convention, meeting, social event, meal, or like
gathering.
(i) "Honorarium" does not include earned income for personal
services that are customarily provided in connection with the
practice of a bona fide business, trade, or profession, such as
teaching or writing for a publisher, and does not include fees or
other things of value received pursuant to Section 94.5 of the Penal
Code for performance of a marriage.
For purposes of this section, "teaching" shall include
presentations to impart educational information to lawyers in events
qualifying for credit under mandatory continuing legal education, to
students in bona fide educational institutions, and to associations
or groups of judges.
(j) Subdivisions (a) and (e) shall apply to all payments,
advances, and reimbursements for travel and related lodging and
subsistence.
(k) This section does not apply to any honorarium that is not used
and, within 30 days after receipt, is either returned to the donor
or delivered to the Controller for deposit in the General Fund
without being claimed as a deduction from income for tax purposes.
( l ) "Gift" means a payment to the extent that
consideration of equal or greater value is not received and includes
a rebate or discount in the price of anything of value unless the
rebate or discount is made in the regular course of business to
members of the public without regard to official status. A person,
other than a defendant in a criminal action, who claims that a
payment is not a gift by reason of receipt of consideration has the
burden of proving that the consideration received is of equal or
greater value. However, the term "gift" does not include any of the
following:
(1) Informational material such as books, reports, pamphlets,
calendars, periodicals, cassettes and discs, or free or reduced-price
admission, tuition, or registration, for informational conferences
or seminars. No payment for travel or reimbursement for any expenses
shall be deemed "informational material."
(2) Gifts that are not used and, within 30 days after receipt, are
returned to the donor or delivered to a charitable organization
without being claimed as a charitable contribution for tax purposes.
(3) Gifts from a judge's spouse, child, parent, grandparent,
grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law,
sister-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, or first cousin or the
spouse of any such person. However, a gift from any of those persons
shall be considered a gift if the donor is acting as an agent or
intermediary for a person not covered by this paragraph.
(4) Campaign contributions required to be reported under Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 84100) of Title 9 of the Government Code.
(5) Any devise or inheritance.
(6) Personalized plaques and trophies with an individual value of
less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(7) Admission to events hosted by state or local bar associations
or judges' professional associations, and provision of related food
and beverages at those events, when attendance does not require
"travel," as described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (e).
(m) The Commission on Judicial Performance shall enforce the
prohibitions of this section with regard to judges of the superior
courts and justices of the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court.
With regard to subordinate judicial officers, consistent with Section
18.1 of Article VI the California Constitution, the court employing
the subordinate judicial officer shall exercise initial jurisdiction
to enforce the prohibitions of this section and the Commission on
Judicial Performance shall exercise discretionary jurisdiction with
respect to the enforcement of the prohibitions of this section.
