BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1519|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1519
Author: Ma (D)
Amended: 8/11/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/10/08
AYES: Corbett, Kuehl, Steinberg
NOES: Harman, Ackerman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-5, 1/24/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Human remains: commercial display
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill, with certain exceptions, prohibits
the public commercial display of human remains, as defined,
without a permit for each specimen of human remains
displayed from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This bill
requires the DOJ to issue a permit for this purpose only
upon DOJ's determination that the exhibitor, as defined,
has met specified requirements including, but not limited
to, a requirement that the
exhibitor has obtained valid written authorization from
specified individuals to publicly display human remains, as
provided. This bill authorizes the DOJ to establish a
permit fee, as provided, and requires the revenue from
these fees to be deposited in the Human Remains Exhibit
CONTINUED
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Permit Fund, which this bill creates. This bill requires
moneys in the Fund to be available to the DOJ, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of
funding the administration of the permit program. This
bill also provides that its provisions do not preempt more
restrictive local regulation of the public commercial
display of human remains. This bill further provides that
violation of its provisions is punishable by a civil
penalty.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/11/08 clarify the bill's
recordkeeping requirements and privacy provisions, and
specify that this bill does not preempt other applicable
state and federal laws.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act,
regulates the making of anatomical gifts and the
disposition of donated bodies and body parts.
This bill provides that, with specified exceptions, each
exhibitor of a commercial display of human remains shall
conspicuously post clearly legible signs in at least
96-point boldface type at the entrance and the ticket
office to the exhibitor's commercial display, stating
whether or not the exhibitor has obtained consent from the
decedent or by a person authorized to make an anatomical
gift of the decedent's remains, to include each body and
specimen of human remains in the exhibit. The signs shall
contain one of the following disclosure statements:
1. "This exhibition contains human remains, including full
body cadavers, body parts, and organs, which were
donated by the decedent or by a person authorized to
make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 or 7150.40
of the Health and Safety Code. Each body and specimen
in the exhibit was donated with full informed consent
for the express purpose of public exhibition."
2. "This exhibition contains human remains, including full
body cadavers, body parts, and organs. The bodies and
specimens were not donated by the decedent or by a
person authorized to make an anatomical gift under
Section 7150.15 or 7150.40 of the Health and Safety
Code. The exhibitor cannot independently verify whether
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the human remains in this exhibit are not those of
persons who were incarcerated, tortured, executed, or
otherwise the victim of a human rights violation."
This bill requires the exhibitor to also include the
disclosure statement in all advertisements of the
commercial display, including, but not limited to, web
sites, exhibit brochures, and exhibit ticket stubs. The
disclosure statement contained on web sites shall be clear
and conspicuous in at least 16-point boldface type. The
disclosure statement contained in brochures and programs
shall be clear and conspicuous in at least 14-point
boldface type. This disclosure statement contained on
ticket stubs shall be clear and conspicuous in boldface
type.
This bill requires the exhibitor to maintain a catalog of
the consent forms and corresponding death certificates for
each body or specimen listed on the form submitted to the
department. The catalog must be available for inspection
by a city attorney, a district attorney or the Attorney
General.
This bill provides that an exhibitor who fails to make any
disclosure required by this section shall be subject to a
civil penalty of $50,000 per violation. Each day of
noncompliance shall be a separate violation.
This bill provides that an exhibitor who makes any false
statement or misrepresentation in any disclosure required
by this bill shall be subject to a civil penalty of $50,000
per violation. Each day of noncompliance shall be a
separate violation for the purposes of this section.
This bill provides that in addition to the catalog, the
exhibitor shall also maintain a catalog with copies of the
consent forms on which all names, and all identifying
signatures that do not protect the anonymity of a donor,
have been removed and replaced with an identifying number
for each specimen on the form submitted to the department
pursuant to this section. The catalog shall be maintained
and shall be available for inspection by the public upon
request.
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This bill provides that an action may be brought by an
individual, a city attorney, a district attorney, or the
Attorney General to enforce this section. Reasonable
attorney's fees and costs shall be awarded to the
prevailing plaintiff for an action brought pursuant to this
section.
This bill provides that in any action brought to enforce
the provisions of this bill, a city attorney, a district
attorney, or the Attorney General shall take reasonable
steps to protect a donor's identity. The court may permit
disclosure of a donor's identity only when the public
interest in disclosure outweighs the privacy interests of a
donor and his or her immediate family in maintaining the
confidentiality of a donor's identity.
The bill provides that nothing in this bill shall be
construed to preempt any existing duties or obligations
otherwise imposed by state or federal law.
This bill provides that notwithstanding any other law, a
violation of this chapter shall not be a crime.
This bill provides that nothing in this bill shall be
construed to apply to the utilization of human remains in a
manner that meets the purposes set forth in the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
7150)). Nor are the provisions to be construed to apply to
the publisher of any newspaper, periodical, or other
publication or the producer of a motion picture or other
visual or audiovisual work, or any radio or television
broadcaster, or the owner or operator of any cable,
satellite, or other medium of communication who broadcasts,
produces, or publishes images of human remains, including
over the Internet.
As used in this bill, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
1. "Commercial display" means either of the following:
A. A display for which the public is charged a fee or
other consideration as a condition of viewing.
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B. A display for which an exhibitor accepts payment
or other consideration.
2. "Exhibitor" means a person or entity who publicly
displays or contracts to publicly display human remains.
3. "Human remains" means all or part of the body of a
deceased person, regardless of the stage of
decomposition.
4. "Museum facility" means a public or private nonprofit
institution that is accredited by the American
Association of Museums or is a part of an accredited
college or university, and that is organized on a
permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic
purposes and that owns or uses tangible objects, cares
for those objects, and exhibits them to the general
public on a regular basis.
This bill shall not apply to a display of human remains
that is any of the following:
1. More than 80 years old.
2. Consisting solely of human teeth or hair.
3. Part of the ordinary display or viewing of the deceased
at a funeral establishment or part of a similar funeral
or memorial service.
4. An object of religious veneration.
5. In the possession of a museum facility. However, if the
museum facility paid or offered other consideration to
an exhibitor to display the remains, and the remains are
not exempt from the provision of this bill, the
exhibitor shall be subject to all the provisions of this
bill.
This bill states that the Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
1. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act requires any donor and
specified authorized individuals to authorize the use of
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anatomical gifts for transplantation, therapy, research,
and education purposes.
2. Every city, county, or state official responsible for
the remains of unclaimed dead bodies is required to use
due diligence to notify the relatives of the decedent.
3. The public commercial display of human remains must be
regulated to protect individual bodily integrity, as
well as the social and cultural values of the state.
4. It is the intent of the Legislature to require persons
who participate in the public commercial display of
human remains to provide evidence of informed consent
specific to the public exhibition and display of human
remains from the decedent or relatives of all humans
whose remains are put on display, and to provide for the
continued use of human remains in the educational,
medical, and scientific communities to promote human
health and safety.
The provisions of this bill sunset on January 1, 2010.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/11/08)
California Association of Museums
California Funeral Directors Association
California Hepatitis C Task Force
California State Coroner's Association
Jewish Public Affairs Committee
No Bodies for Profit
Seattle Museum of the Mysteries
The Laogai Research Foundation
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/11/08)
Premier Exhibitions
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
while exhibitions of plastinated human remains may be
informative, there has been a general public concern that
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bodies exhibited were once prisoners, government and
political dissenters, hospital patients, and the poor. The
author's office maintains that the state must protect
unwilling and unclaimed bodies from unethical treatment and
from companies which exploit human remains for profit.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : In opposition to this bill,
Premier Exhibitions writes: "Premier's chief concern with
this bill is that the bill would retroactively apply to
existing exhibits and specimens and, as a result, would
shut down its currently working exhibitions in California
because of new requirements unrelated to public health and
safety that were not required when those specimens were
legally acquired."
Premier further states: "China is the source for Premier's
anatomical specimens. China is known as the expert in the
field of plastination, a process where the body fluids are
replaced with a polymer plastic but maintain the look and
feel of the original specimen. Just as the State of
California does not have consent forms for each body
donated to medical schools, dental schools, and teaching
hospitals throughout the state, neither does the Chinese
government. It would be impossible to retroactively comply
with the provision in this bill requiring consent for the
specimens. The specimens in the current exhibits reflect
remains from people who died at least four years ago.[sic]"
Premier requests that the bill be amended to contain a
grandfather clause for specimens that are currently on
display or have previously been on display in California as
long as they do not constitute a threat to public health.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Berg, Berryhill,
Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, Dymally,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Galgiani, Garcia,
Hancock, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huffman, Jones,
Karnette, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Mendoza,
Mullin, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Nunez
NOES: Anderson, Benoit, La Malfa, Sharon Runner, Villines
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Adams, Blakeslee, DeVore, Duvall,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Hayashi, Huff, Jeffries, Keene,
Krekorian, Maze, Nakanishi, Nava, Price, Silva, Smyth,
Soto, Spitzer, Strickland, Walters, Wolk, Vacancy
RJG:mw 8/12/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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