Curtis’ Law will ensure families receive personal effects and all relevant information
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a bill requiring the immediate family of a child killed in a crime be given full access to records detailing the investigation of the incident.
Authored by Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), and sponsored by Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice – the largest network of crime victims in California – SB 1268, also known as Curtis’ Law, requires immediate family members of a deceased minor be allowed to inspect investigative information and records concerning the child’s death held by law enforcement agencies, as well as require any law enforcement agency holding such records to notify the child’s parent or other relative to the existence of the records, within a specified time period. The bill also requires criminal investigative information and criminal intelligence information be made available to the immediate family members of a child whose death is or has been investigated by a law enforcement agency.
The following can be attributed to Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice:
“Gov. Gavin Newsom deserves to be commended for signing this critical piece of legislation into law, and ensuring the majority of survivors of crime and violence will no longer be ignored and excluded from a system that isn’t built to help those who need it most. No family suffering the loss of a child should ever have their pain and trauma compounded by having to face hurdles just to obtain relevant case information, and we thank Gov. Newsom for implementing approaches to community safety that prioritize the needs of survivors of crime.”