SEC. 2.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:(a) California law defines a hate crime as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of the actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation of the victim, or his or her association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
(b) It is the right of every person regardless of actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with these actual or perceived characteristics, to be secure and protected from fear,
intimidation, and physical harm caused by the actions of violent groups and individuals.
(c) “Bias” includes bias based upon the victim’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, or the victim’s association with a person or group with one or more of these characteristics.
(d) It is against public policy for juries to render decisions tainted by bias based upon the victim’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, or his or her association with a person or group with one or more of these characteristics.
(e) “Panic strategies” are those strategies that try to explain a defendant’s actions or emotional reactions based upon the knowledge or discovery of the fact that the victim possesses one or
more of the characteristics listed above or associates with a person or group with one or more of the those characteristics.
(f) The Legislature is concerned about the use of societal bias in criminal proceedings and the susceptibility of juries to such bias. The use of so-called “panic strategies” by defendants in criminal trials opens the door for bias against victims based on one or more of the characteristics listed above or an association with a person or group with one or more of those characteristics.
(g) It is against public policy for a defendant to be acquitted of a charged offense or convicted of a lesser included offense based upon an appeal to the societal bias that may be possessed by members of a jury.