BILL NUMBER: SB 1454 CHAPTERED 09/29/06 CHAPTER 601 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2006 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2006 INTRODUCED BY Senator Torlakson (Coauthor: Senator Aanestad) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Wolk) FEBRUARY 23, 2006 An act to amend Section 48900 of, and to repeal Sections 32050 and 32051 of the Education Code, and to add Section 245.6 to the Penal Code, relating to hazing. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1454, Torlakson Crimes: hazing. Existing law codifies within the Education Code the definition of hazing and imposes criminal penalties on persons who haze. This bill would repeal the Education Code hazing provisions and instead codify within the Penal Code a new definition of hazing and prescribe misdemeanor and felony penalties, as specified. This bill would also allow a person to bring a civil action for injury or damages against individuals who participate in the hazing or organizations who authorize, request, command, participate in, or ratify the hazing. Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it 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. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 32050 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 32051 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 3. Section 48900 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48900. A pupil may not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to (q), inclusive: (a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person. (2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another, except in self-defense. (b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished any firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of possession of any object of this type, the pupil had obtained written permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee, which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the principal. (c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or been under the influence of, any controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind. (d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered, or otherwise furnished to any person another liquid, substance, or material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant. (e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion. (f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or private property. (g) Stolen or attempted to steal school property or private property. (h) Possessed or used tobacco, or any products containing tobacco or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products. (i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or vulgarity. (j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5 of the Health and Safety Code. (k) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. (l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private property. (m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section, "imitation firearm" means a replica of a firearm that is so substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a firearm. (n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code or committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal Code. (o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding for the purpose of either preventing that pupil from being a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both. (p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or sold the prescription drug Soma. (q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 245.6 of the Penal Code. (r) A pupil may not be suspended or expelled for any of the acts enumerated in this section, unless that act is related to school activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the jurisdiction of the superintendent or principal or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may be suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section and related to school activity or attendance that occur at any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following: (1) While on school grounds. (2) While going to or coming from school. (3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus. (4) During, or while going to or coming from, a school sponsored activity. (s) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury to another person may suffer suspension, but not expulsion, pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline pursuant to subdivision (a). (t) As used in this section, "school property" includes, but is not limited to, electronic files and databases. (u) A superintendent or principal may use his or her discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, including, but not limited to, counseling and an anger management program, for a pupil subject to discipline under this section. (v) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to suspension or expulsion be imposed against any pupil who is truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities. SEC. 4. Section 245.6 is added to the Penal Code, to read: 245.6. (a) It shall be unlawful to engage in hazing, as defined in this section. (b) "Hazing" means any method of initiation or preinitiation into a student organization or student body, whether or not the organization or body is officially recognized by an educational institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury to any former, current, or prospective student of any school, community college, college, university, or other educational institution in this state. The term "hazing" does not include customary athletic events or school-sanctioned events. (c) A violation of this section that does not result in serious bodily injury is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or both. (d) Any person who personally engages in hazing that results in death or serious bodily injury as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state prison. (e) The person against whom the hazing is directed may commence a civil action for injury or damages. The action may be brought against any participants in the hazing, or any organization to which the student is seeking membership whose agents, directors, trustees, managers, or officers authorized, requested, commanded, participated in, or ratified the hazing. (f) Prosecution under this section shall not prohibit prosecution under any other provision of law. SEC. 5. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Matt's Law" in memory of Matthew William Carrington, who died on February 2, 2005, as a result of hazing. SEC. 6. 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.