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AB-2925 Civil rights crimes.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 02/21/2020 09:00 PM
AB2925:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2925

Introduced by Assembly Members Bauer-Kahan and Grayson
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gipson)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Berman, Bloom, Diep, Friedman, Gabriel, Levine, Low, Maienschein, Petrie-Norris, Robert Rivas, and Blanca Rubio)

February 21, 2020

An act to amend Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, relating to civil rights crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2925, as introduced, Bauer-Kahan. Civil rights crimes.
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to, by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten another person in the free exercise or enjoyment of a right or privilege secured by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States in whole or in part because of one or more of specified actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including disability, gender, religion, race, or sexual orientation. Existing law also makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly deface, damage, or destroy the real or personal property of another person for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the free exercise or enjoyment of a right or privilege secured by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States, in whole or in part because of one or more of the same actual or perceived characteristics of the victim.
This bill would make the above crimes punishable either as a misdemeanor or as a felony, to be served in county jail for 18 months, or 2 or 3 years. By increasing the punishment for a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 422.6 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

422.6.
 (a) No A person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall not, by force or threat of force, willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any a right or privilege secured to him or her by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States in whole or in part because of one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics of the victim listed in subdivision (a) of Section 422.55.
(b) No A person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall not knowingly deface, damage, or destroy the real or personal property of any other person for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the free exercise or enjoyment of any a right or privilege secured to the other person by the Constitution or laws of this state or by the Constitution or laws of the United States, in whole or in part because of one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics of the victim listed in subdivision (a) of Section 422.55.
(c) Any A person convicted of violating subdivision (a) or (b) shall be punished either by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both the above imprisonment and fine, and or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170. In addition to that punishment, the court shall order the defendant to perform a minimum of community service, not to exceed 400 hours, to be performed over a period not to exceed 350 days, during a time other than his or her the person’s hours of employment or school attendance. However, no a person may shall not be convicted of violating subdivision (a) based upon speech alone, except upon a showing that the speech itself threatened violence against a specific person or group of persons and that the defendant had the apparent ability to carry out the threat.
(d) Conduct that violates this and any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, an offense described in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 11410) of Chapter 3 of Title 1 of Part 4, may be charged under all applicable provisions. However, an act or omission punishable in different ways by this section and other provisions of another law shall not be punished under more than one provision, law, and the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section 654.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.