SB 596 authored by Senator Portantino passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 6-0 vote.
AYE's: Alanis, Bonta, Bryan, Ortega, Santiago, Zbur
NVR: Jones-Sawyer, Lackey
SB 596 is a bill that purports to protect school employees from dangerous people, but criminalizes the protected speech of concerned parents.
SB 596 perpetuates this idea that parents who voice their opposition to curriculum or school decisions are somehow dangerous. No teacher should be subject to violence or threats of violence, but those behaviors are already illegal. This bill runs into First Amendment issues because it seeks to punish speech considered annoying or harassing. Those vague terms could potentially be applied to all kinds of constitutionally protected communication between a parent and a teacher.
