Newsom closes final legislative session with changes to privacy, indigent defense laws

Gov. Gavin Newsom ended his final legislative session by signing 1,040 bills, the most of his eight years in office, with his final batch Wednesday including significant changes to California privacy litigation and indigent defense, along with measures affecting parole and marriage laws.

Among the most consequential for attorneys is SB 690, which narrows the California Invasion of Privacy Act's application to certain digital tracking technologies.

The law restricts private lawsuits alleging violations of CIPA's pen register and trap-and-trace provisions when the conduct involves a website or online or mobile application. Under the new rules, only the attorney general may bring those claims against private actors.

Supporters said the measure addresses a wave of litigation targeting businesses over commonplace online tracking technologies.

"SB 690 provides meaningful relief for businesses facing website-tracking litigation, but it is not a complete overhaul of CIPA," Wynter L. Deagle, a partner and co-leader of the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in San Diego, said in an email. "Companies should view this as a targeted fix rather than a full reset, as other CIPA provisions remain available to plaintiffs and will likely continue to drive claims."

Critics argued the measure strips consumers of an important enforcement tool. Plaintiffs challenging some data practices will instead have to rely on newer statutes, including the California Consumer Privacy Act. Opponents contend those laws, while designed for the internet age, lack some of CIPA's enforcement power.

Newsom also signed AB 690, which overhauls the way counties contract for indigent criminal defense.

Beginning in 2028, the law will prohibit flat-fee agreements and certain per-case payments, require contracts to provide adequate resources for defense attorneys and mandate that counties using private providers report those contracts to the Office of the State Public Defender.

Assemblymember Nick Schultz, D-Burbank, the bill's author, said some counties, particularly poorer and rural jurisdictions, have relied on flat-fee contracts that saddle defense attorneys with unmanageable caseloads.

Newsom also signed AB 2727 following controversy over the potential release of several convicted sex offenders. The measure raises the parole review age for certain serious offenders from 50 to 65, reversing a recent change that lowered the threshold.

"When someone commits violent sexual crimes, especially against children, the consequences must reflect the seriousness of that harm," Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, said when she introduced the bill last spring.

Another measure, AB 1267, makes California the latest state to prohibit child marriage. It sets 18 as the minimum age to marry, eliminating exceptions that allowed minors to wed with parental consent and court approval.

Supporters say the change will strengthen protections against coercion, exploitation and abuse.

Caroline Heldman, professor and chair of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles and an advocate for abused children, said AB 1267 followed a yearslong effort to change California law. More than 30 states still lack similar prohibitions, she said.

"We ran up against a pretty intense, well-funded, mostly religious lobby that was trying to maintain what they are framing as religious freedom," Heldman said.