AG drops resistance to new transparency law

After a judge issued a tentative order that would compel the release of records by the state Department of Justice under the state's new transparency law, Attorney General Xavier Becerra dropped his resistance to apply the law retroactively and provide police misconduct records held by his office.

"The court really left Becerra no choice," First Amendment Coalition Executive Director David Snyder wrote in an email. "His refusal for nearly five months to release records clearly covered by SB 1421 was untenable."

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard B. Ulmer Jr. issued a tentative order Friday granting a writ of mandate that would compel Becerra to release records requested by the First Amendment Coalition and KQED. First Amendment Coalition v. Xavier Becerra, CPF-19-516545 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 14, 2019).

Hours later, Becerra's office issued a statement saying it would begin enforcing the transparency law, SB 1421, retroactively and would provide the records requested by the plaintiffs.

"Transparency and accountability in policing are fundamental components to building safe and secure communities for all Californians," Becerra said in the statement. "With this court's ruling, my office now has much of the clarity we have sought in our efforts to appropriately follow the letter of the law."

Shortly after the law was enacted in January, Becerra issued a statement saying he would wait for guidance from the judiciary before enforcing the law retroactively. His office also argued to Ulmer that it was not the responsible agency for the delivery of such records, which the judge rejected in his tentative, noting the Legislature's use of the phrasing, "records maintained by any state or local agency."

"Today's order made clear what the attorney general's office has long resisted -- that the state's highest law enforcement officer is not above state law," Snyder said.