BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 26|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 26
Author: Weber (D), et al.
Amended: 7/16/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 8/17/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Removal of the Confederate flag and symbols
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution encourages Congress to ban government
use or display of the confederate flag on federal property and
encourage the states to ban Confederate symbolism in state
flags, seals, and symbols.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Holds that when the government speaks, it is not barred by the
Free Speech Clause from determining the content of what it
says. A government is generally entitled to promote a
program, espouse a policy, or take a position. (Pleasant
Grove City v. Summum (2009) 555 U. S. 460; Walker v. Texas
Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans (June 18, 2015) 135 S.
Ct. 2339.)
2)Prohibits the State of California from selling or displaying
the Battle Flag of the Confederacy, also referred to as the
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Stars and Bars, or any similar image, or tangible personal
property, inscribed with such an image unless the image
appears in a book, digital medium or state museum that serves
an educational or historical purpose.
This resolution:
1)Makes various findings and declarations relating to the
history of race relations in the southern United States in the
antebellum South, the origins of the Civil War, the subsequent
symbolism of the Confederate Battle Flag from the period of
Reconstruction to the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and 1960s,
the rise of Neo-Confederate hate groups in contemporary
America, and the recent shootings in Charleston, South
Carolina, and the resulting calls to remove the Confederate
Battle Flag from the South Carolina capitol building and
through the southern United States.
2)Resolves, in light of the above findings and declarations, the
following:
a) That the Legislature of California encourages the United
States Congress to identify the states that have a
Confederate symbol embedded into their state's flag.
b) The Legislature memorializes the United States Congress
to encourage states to ban use of Confederate States of
America symbolism and seals from all state flags, seals, or
symbols.
c) That the Legislature memorializes the United States
Congress to ban the sale and display of any Confederate
flag on federally owned properties and buildings and to
urge those states that sell or display any such flag at
their capitols to have the flag removed.
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d) That the Legislature encourages the United States
Congress to encourage businesses to urge their states to
take down any Confederate flag from their capitols.
e) That the Legislature encourages the donation of any
effects representing the former Confederate States of
America to local, state, and national museums.
f) That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly shall transmit
copies of this resolution to specified state and federal
officials.
Comments
The tragic shootings at an African Methodist Episcopal church in
Charleston, South Carolina, have prompted some national soul
searching about the propriety of Confederate symbols in the
public square. As is well known, the shooter was a white
supremacist who, literally, wrapped himself in the Confederate
Battle Flag in one of his social media postings. (He was also,
apparently, a fan of the apartheid regime in South Africa.)
After long and passionate debates in both houses of the South
Carolina legislature, Governor Nikki Haley signed legislation on
July 9, 2015, requiring the removal of the flag. (The
Confederate Battle Flag was removed from the top of the South
Carolina capitol dome in 2000, where it had flown since 1962,
but it remains on the capitol grounds near a Confederate
soldier's memorial.) According to the author, to whatever
extent the flag may have once been a symbol of southern
secession, it has since been used by Neo-Nazis,
Neo-Confederates, the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups to
elicit fear and promote hate and intolerance toward people of
color, especially African Americans. This resolution,
therefore, calls upon Congress to ban the sale and display of
the Confederate flag on federal property and encourage the
states to remove Confederate symbols from state buildings,
flags, and seals. This resolution would encourage that any
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Confederate flags or other effects be donated to local, state,
and national museums.
Related Legislation
SJR 15 (Glazer, 2015) urges the Congress and the President of
the United States to rename any federal buildings, parks,
roadways, or other federally owned property that bear the names
of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of
America. This resolution is pending on the Senate floor.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Unable to verify at time of writing)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Unable to verify at time of writing)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 8/17/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Beth Gaines, Harper, Patterson,
Waldron
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Prepared by: Jonas Austin / SFA / (916) 651-1520
8/19/15 21:42:10
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