DeMaio seeks Justice Department intervention after Newsom signs the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’

A day after Governor Gavin Newsom signed the controversial “Stop Nick Shirley Act” into law, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio announced he is asking the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights to intervene to block implementation of what he says is a “blatantly unconstitutional” law.

When AB 2624 was first introduced, DeMaio quickly nicknamed it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” because it makes it a crime for citizen investigative journalists to expose fraud by posting videos on the internet.

AB 2624 also imposes stiff financial penalties on citizen journalists for posting videos – and the final version of the bill even removed exemptions for journalists under the California Shield Law.

“California’s extreme politicians just imposed a law that makes it illegal for citizen investigative journalists to post video evidence of fraud,” said DeMaio.

“Instead of fixing rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, they’re trying to punish the people exposing it — and they are blatantly violating our First Amendment freedom of speech rights,” DeMaio adds.

Last week, DeMaio had called on Newsom to veto the bill, but now that the bill has quickly been signed into law, DeMaio says he will continue to fight it using the legal system.

As a first step, DeMaio is asking the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights to review the law and intervene to block its implementation on the grounds it violates the First Amendment.  The Office of Civil Rights is currently challenging a number of California state laws and policies in court for violating constitutional rights.

“Newsom and California Democrats have a bad record of repeatedly imposing unconstitutional laws — only to be stopped by the US DOJ and the courts,” DeMaio noted.  “But the damage is done because while we fight in court our constitutional rights are being infringed upon,” DeMaio adds.

DeMaio says Newsom and California Democrats know the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” is unconstitutional, but they are trying to slow down investigations into the massive fraud problems they have allowed in state and local government programs.

“It is clear that Gavin Newsom and California Democrat politicians are trying to hide the true extent of the fraud problems we have in California — and how they benefit politically from not only the fraud but the far-left groups behind the Stop Nick Shirley Act,” DeMaio concludes.

What Section 6218.19 of the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” (AB 2624) specifically says:
(b)(1)A program participant, or an individual, entity, or organization authorized to act on their behalf, may make a written demand to a person, business, or association to not publicly post or publicly display, disclose or distribute on the internet the personal information or image of the program participant.
(4)A program participant whose personal information or image is made public as a result of a failure to honor a demand made pursuant to paragraph (1), or any individual, entity or organization authorized to act on their behalf, may bring an action seeking injunctive or declarative relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. If a jury or court finds that a violation has occurred, it may grant injunctive or declarative relief and shall award the successful plaintiff court costs and reasonable attorneys fees.

About Carl DeMaio
California Assemblymember Carl DeMaio is a member of the California State Assembly representing District 75 which includes the communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center, Ramona, Poway, Scripps Ranch, Santee, Lakeside, Alpine, Julian, Borrego Springs, Pala, Jamul, Pine Valley, Pauma Valley and Bonita.