Court Opinion

ID: 9547738
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:51:18.356588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:02.154988
License: Public Domain

KAUS, J.
I concur based on my understanding that the majority’s recital of the allegation in the complaint that the monitoring was “without probable cause to suspect that any illegal activity [was] taking place” does not imply that monitoring for jail security purposes can only be undertaken on “probable cause.” As I understand the law, monitoring for security purposes may be routinely undertaken without any reason to believe that any particular surveillance will disclose evidence of illegal activity. I further assume that if this matter goes to trial, plaintiffs will bear the burden of demonstrating the invalidity of the jail authorities’ monitoring practices and that, in the absence of a contrary showing, the monitoring will be presumed to have been undertaken for security purposes.
That having been said, the fact remains that plaintiffs’ complaint alleges violations of sections 2600 and 2601 of the Penal Code, in that it alleges that the county’s monitoring practice has been undertaken to gather evidence in pending cases and not for the purpose of jail security. Although I have no idea how plaintiffs propose to prove that the monitoring is being performed solely to gather evidence and not for security purposes, in view of defendants’ demurrer the matter of proof is simply not before us. In light of the Legislature’s enactment of sections 2600 and 2601, plaintiffs are entitled to relief if they can show at trial that the monitoring practices are not security measures.
With all respect, it seems to me that Justice Richardson’s dissent assumes as a matter of law that plaintiffs cannot possibly meet their burden of proof. This appears to be based on the supposition that any jail monitoring is necessarily undertaken for security purposes. But can we properly hold that that is invariably so? Suppose plaintiffs are able to demonstrate that certain monitoring would not have been undertaken by jail personnel had it not been for a request from the prosecutor’s office, which was looking for admissions relating to a crime with which a particular detainee was charged. Surely, were such the case, it would defy the facts to hold that the monitoring was undertaken for security purposes.
With respect to Justide Mosk’s dissent, I would simply note that nothing in the majority opinion forbids the authorities to post the sug*879gested warnings. I do not believe, however, that counsel’s “general” willingness to have his clients do so moots this proceeding. We are not informed that the warnings have actually been posted. Surely, if the matter is otherwise properly before us, we should not dismiss it merely because at the oral argument counsel expressed some vague willingness to go along with a suggestion from the bench. Furthermore, I believe that jail authorities could reasonably conclude that secret monitoring is necessary for security purposes and therefore I am loath to dismiss this proceeding on the assumption that it will be abandoned.