Who’s Watching the Watchdog?: Are the Names of Corporations Mandated to Disclose under the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act Subject to a Public Records Request?

Abstract

Trafficking is a highly dynamic and fluid criminal phenomenon. Determined traffickers react remarkably well to consumer demand and under-regulated economic sectors and easily adapt to legislative weaknesses. Corporate globalization of manufacturing and storefronts is contributing to human trafficking; aiding in forced labor in becoming the fastest growing and the third most widespread criminal enterprise in the world. As technology advances, allowing greater and easier access to goods from more remote countries, vulnerable populations become easier targets for traffickers to exploit. Understanding U.S. markets are key destinations for goods, enlightened states are looking to bolster their anti-trafficking criminal codes by requiring businesses to better clarify their efforts to discourage human trafficking/forced labor within their supply chains. The California State Legislature has begun an aggressive approach aimed at fostering greater public awareness of slave labor by requiring certain businesses to clearly articulate their anti-trafficking/anti-forced labor policies. California was the first government – local, state or federal - to codify mandatory policy disclosures. The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 requires businesses domiciled in California and earning more that $100 million to conspicuously disclose on their publically accessed webpage, what policies, if any, they have implemented to detect and fight slave labor. The legislature intended to equip the common consumer with the needed information to effectively hold businesses accountable for human rights abuses. In order for the public to properly hold businesses accountable for their labor practices, it is essential the names of business subject to the disclosure be made public. The California Public Records Act should be a tool for concerned consumers and advocates to obtain the statutory list of affected companies.