BILL NUMBER: AB 312	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Blumenfield,  Brownley,
 Chesbro, Eng, Hall, Huffman, and Swanson)

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2011

   An act to amend Section 51.7 of the Civil Code, relating to civil
rights.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 312, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Civil rights: homeless
persons.
   Existing law sets forth various personal rights and provides that
all persons within California have the right to be free from
violence, or intimidation by the threat of violence, because of,
among other characteristics, their race, color, religion, ancestry,
national origin, political affiliation, or sex. Existing law further
permits an individual whose exercise or enjoyment of specified
personal rights has been interfered with to bring a civil action for
damages, including actual damages, exemplary damages, attorney's
fees, injunctive relief, and other appropriate relief. Existing law
requires the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to receive,
investigate, and conciliate complaints that an individual's personal
rights have been violated.
   This bill would specify that homeless persons, as defined, are
entitled to the personal rights set forth under existing law, and
would provide that a homeless person has the right to be free from
violence or intimidation by threat of violence directed against that
person on the basis of that person's status as a homeless person. The
bill would also provide that these provisions shall not be construed
to enlarge or diminish an existing duty, if any, by an owner of
residential rental or commercial property to protect a homeless
person who is present on the property from violence or intimidation
by threats of violence.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 51.7 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   51.7.  (a) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state have
the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of
violence, committed against their persons or property because of
political affiliation, or on account of any characteristic listed or
defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51, or position in a
labor dispute, or because another person perceives them to have one
or more of those characteristics. The identification in this
subdivision of particular bases of discrimination is illustrative
rather than restrictive.

   (b) (1) This section includes any violence, or intimidation by
threat of violence, committed against the person or property of a
homeless person because the person is, or is perceived to be, a
homeless person.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "homeless person" means:
   (A) A person who does not have a fixed, regular, and adequate
nighttime residence.
   (B) A person that has a nighttime residence that constitutes any
of the following:
   (i) A supervised, publicly or privately operated shelter
designated to provide temporary living accommodations, including, but
not limited to, welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and
transitional housing.
   (ii) An institution that provides a temporary residence for
individuals intended to be institutionalized.
   (iii) A public or private building or designated area that is not
ordinarily designed for, or ordinarily used for, sleeping
accommodations for persons.
   (3) This subdivision shall not be construed to enlarge or diminish
an existing legal duty, if any, by an owner of residential rental or
commercial property to protect a homeless person from violence, or
intimidation by threats of violence, because the homeless person is
physically present on the owner's property or other property
controlled by the owner incidental to ownership of the rental
property.
   (c) This section does not apply to statements concerning positions
in a labor dispute  which   that  are made
during otherwise lawful labor picketing.