Jacob B. v. County of Shasta is an important case for all public entities -- indeed, for all persons -- who provide information to courts.
In Jacob B., a family accused a 15 year old of molesting his nephew. Although the youth was not prosecuted, a county victim's rights group concluded by a preponderance of the evidence that the molestation occurred; and paid the nephew victim's compensation for counseling. The rights group stored the record in its computer files without noting the alleged molestor's age. Later, the question of whether the nephew would be allowed to visit the uncle arose in family court. At the nephew's mother's request, the rights group wrote the family court a letter advising it of the molestation claim and the payment of victim's compensation. The uncle sued the county for various causes of action, including violation of his right of privacy under the California Constitution.
The California Supreme Court held that Civil Code section 47(b)'s litigation privileged absolutely protected all catagories of permitted communications with the court. It therefore protected the victims right's group from liability for the letter to the court -- regardless of whether the group violated the law by improperly releasing juvenile-offender information. Further, the privilege protects communicators against liability for violation of constitutional privacy rights. The only cause of action to which the privilege does not apply, the court concluded, is malicious prosecution. (Public entities and employeesare immune from liability for malicious prosecution under Government Code sections 821.6 and 815.2(b).)
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