BILL NUMBER: AB 1920 CHAPTERED 07/06/04 CHAPTER 115 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 6, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 6, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 14, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member La Malfa (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Chavez, Cogdill, Cox, Daucher, Garcia, Haynes, Jerome Horton, Kehoe, La Suer, Maze, Pacheco, Samuelian, and Strickland) FEBRUARY 10, 2004 An act to amend Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, relating to rights. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1920, La Malfa. Civil rights: interference. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to, 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 right or privilege secured by constitution or other law because of the other person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. Existing law also makes it a misdemeanor to 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 of those rights for any of those reasons. These misdemeanors are punishable by not more than one year in a county jail, a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The court also must order community service be performed by each violator, as specified. This bill would state that conduct amounting to one of these offenses that also violates any other provision of law may be charged under all applicable provisions, but may only be punished once, as specified. 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 person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall 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 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 because of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because he or she perceives that the other person has one or more of those characteristics. (b) No person, whether or not acting under color of law, shall 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 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, because of the other person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, or because he or she perceives that the other person has one or more of those characteristics. (c) Any person convicted of violating subdivision (a) or (b) shall be punished 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 that imprisonment and fine, and 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 hours of employment or school attendance. However, no person may 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) 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 law shall not be punished under more than one provision, and the penalty to be imposed shall be determined as set forth in Section 654.