California Hate Violence Legislation

Last year, the California Legislature passed, and Governor Gray Davis signed, one bill concerning hate crimes.

AB 208 (Knox; D) added section 190.03 to the Penal Code.  Existing law at Penal Code section 190.2 provides for the death penalty or life without possibility of parole in first degree murder cases if certain special circumstances are met, including bias motivation because of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality, or country of origin.  Section 190.03 expands this list of special circumstances for life without possibility of parole (no provision for the death penalty, but see AB 1712, below) to include the victim's real or perceived disability, gender, or sexual orientation.  The statute provides that "because of" means that the bias motivation must be a "cause in fact" of the offense.  If there are multiple causes, the bias motivation must be a "substantial factor."  The court cannot strike the bias motivation allegation, except in the interest of justice and if it does so; the court must state its reasons in writing on the record.

The California Legislature is particularly active this legislative session proposing a number of bills concerning hate violence and reintroducing some from the last legislative session. 

AB 741 (Pacheco) appropriates $5 million dollars to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to support grants to counties prosecuting hate crimes.  The bill requires counties receiving these grants to report to the state Department of Justice (DOJ) on the effectiveness of the grant and requires DOJ to report to the Legislature no later that January 1, 2002, on the effectiveness of the program.  As of February 1, 2000, this bill was in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 1326 (Hayden) requires the Department of Education to report on the extent of human relations, racism, and anti-Semitism are covered in public school curriculum.  It has been amended to include a provision requiring schools to report hate crimes.

SB 1489 (Hayden), as amended, takes the no-money excuse out of the previous mandate for local law enforcement to report hate crimes to the AG.  If extra money were needed by local law enforcement to report their hate crimes to the AG, that money would come out of the state mandates claims fund. 

SB 1569 (Hayden) amends Penal Code sections 422.6, 422.7, and 422.75 to make it a crime to commit a bias-motivated act of violence because the perpetrator perceives that the victim associates with someone whom has a protected characteristic.  This bill was originally introduced as SB 850 which failed passage in the Senate Committee on Public Safety and has been re-introduced as SB 1569.

SB 1613 (Burton) gives a large grant to the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to establish six Victim Recovery Centers to provide services to victims of violent crimes, including hate crimes, not already covered by other such centers (such as domestic violence).  Services to victims would include:  crisis counseling, group support sessions, referrals to local organizations, on-going therapy, legal advice, financial assistance, work opportunities, fundraising to meet unmet victim needs, "victim sensitization" services with the offender, clinical case management services, and vocational rehabilitation. 

SB 1734 (Murray) states that the Legislature is against hate crimes and hate violence and will work with schools, law enforcement, and community groups to overcome it.

AB 1785 (Villaraigosa) requires the State Department of Education to specifically include reporting of bias motivated incidents and hate crimes on the standard school crime reporting form.  The bill requires the Department of Education to establish reporting guidelines and documentation for validation criteria for hate crimes. 

AB 1809 (Runner) requires individuals convicted of specified felony hate crimes to register with local law enforcement just as is required by sex offenders, however registration information will not be released to the public.  Requires the Department of Justice to maintain a hate crime registry.

AB 1906 (Longville) removes existing restrictions and requires that the California State Board of Education develop policies and guidelines for preventing hate violence in grades K-12.

AB 1931 (Scott) requires the State Department of Education to report by school district on an annual basis the number of suspensions and recommendations for expulsion for hate violence.  The bill awards money to the State Department of Education to provide: 1) regional training programs throughout the state to assist school district personnel in the identification and determination of hate violence on school campuses; and 2) makes grants to school districts to enable pupils and teachers to participate in educational programs focused on overcoming prejudice, countering hatred, and fostering ethnic sensitivity, including programs conducted by the Museum of Tolerance.  The bill is an urgency measure, so it requires a two-thirds vote to pass.

SB 1945 (Ortiz) links anti-abortion crime with hate crime reporting.  The bill adds support for reproductive choice or abortion rights to the list of victim characteristics required to be reported by law enforcement under Penal Code section 13023.

AB 1964 (Dutra) makes it a felony for a person to cause or encourage a minor to commit a hate crime, as defined under Penal Code section 422.6.

AB 2120 (Bates) adds to the list of sentence enhancements for arsonists, arson to religious institutions where the property damage exceeds $1 million.

AB 2609 (Knox) adds social tolerance to those subjects that must be addressed in K-6 instruction in social sciences and mandates more money to pay for it, if necessary.

AB 2719 (Wesson) allows a civil penalty to be assessed against a hate violence perpetrator in an action brought by an Attorney General, District Attorney, or a city attorney in addition to private causes of action brought by hate violence victims.

Related Resolutions

A number of resolutions passed by the Legislature last legislative session, remembered and honored our rich ethnic heritage: 

ACR 15 (Honda) declared February 19, 1999 as a "Day of Remembrance" for persons of Japanese ancestry interned by the United States during World War II.

ACR 64 (Leonard) declared June 19 as "Juneteenth," in honor of the 134th anniversary of Emancipation Day and honoring the contributions of African Americans in the history of the United States and California.

ACR 71 (Steinberg) declared the Legislature's support and condolences to the Sacramento Jewish congregations whose synagogues were firebombed; the Legislature resolved to combat hatred, promote unity, assist in bringing the guilty to justice, and help the community rebuild the damaged synagogues.

AJR 20 (Torlakson) commemorated the 27th anniversary of Title IX, which mandates equal funding for women's and girl's sports.

AJR 26 (Honda) requested that Congress and every American recognize that it is important to protect the national security interests of our weapons laboratories without false stereotypes about all Asian American employees, and asked the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Secretary of Energy to investigate fully allegations of retaliatory actions and discrimination against Asian Pacific Americans.

AJR 27 (Honda) called on the Japanese Government to issue an unambiguous apology for its war crimes and pay reparations for them.

AJR 38 (Kaloogian) condemned the Sudanese National Islamic Front government for its genocidal war in Southern Sudan, called for the end of slavery there, and urged Congress to adopt the Sudan Peace Act.

SJR 4 (Solis) requested the U.S. President and Congress to take necessary action to ensure the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan are not systematically violated.