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Calif. Considers Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton Protection Act
A bill in the California legislature would make it a misdemeanor for law enforcement or court employees to make money by releasing confidential information collected in criminal investigations or unauthorized photos of people in custody. The "people” the bill has in mind are celebrities, such as Paris Hilton – who recently spent 23 days in jail – or Mel Gibson, busted on drunk driving charges in July 2006. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said the law was needed at a time when a photo of Hilton behind bars could reportedly sell for as much as $500,000. But opponents of the bill assert that it would impede freedom of the press for the sake of celebrities, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Story Continues Below "It’s the Paris Hilton and Mel Gibson Protection Act,” Tom Newton, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Assn., told the Times. "Fundamentally, it attempts to regulate news gathering and criminalize it.” Baca’s office is probing the leak of Gibson’s police report to the Web site TMZ.com after his arrest in Malibu. "The question is whether that was done for profit or gratuitously,” he said. Other allegations have surfaced of law enforcement employees leaking confidential information for money, according to the Times. Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano, indicted in February 2006 on charges including illegal wiretapping, allegedly paid law enforcement employees for confidential information he sought in cases involving celebrities. The bill passed the California Assembly in May and has cleared one Senate committee. But Newton predicted that if it becomes law, it will likely be struck down by the courts. © NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved. Editor's note:
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