BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1684|
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                                      CONSENT 


          Bill No:  AB 1684
          Author:   Mark Stone (D) 
          Amended:  3/17/16 in Assembly
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:  7-0, 6/14/16
           AYES:  Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,  
            Wieckowski

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Civil actions:  human trafficking


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill, independent of any other remedy or procedure  
          that might apply, provides the Department of Fair Employment and  
          Housing (DFEH) with the authority to receive, investigate,  
          conciliate, mediate, and prosecute human trafficking complaints  
          on behalf of a human trafficking victim, as specified.  Damages  
          awarded in any such DFEH action shall be awarded to the person  
          harmed by the violation of human trafficking, as specified, but  
          costs and attorney's fees awarded in any such action shall be  
          awarded to the DFEH. 


          ANALYSIS:  


          Existing law: 








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          1)Provides, under Section 236.1 of the Penal Code, that any  
            person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of  
            another is guilty of human trafficking if the person has the  
            intent to: (1) effect or maintain specified felony  
            prostitution-related offenses; (2) commit extortion, (3) use a  
            minor to produce or distribute obscene material or child  
            pornography; or (4) obtain forced labor or services.  Existing  
            law provides for various specified fines and imprisonment for  
            the crime of human trafficking.  


          2)Provides for various civil actions based on violations of a  
            person's civil or personal rights, including the Unruh Civil  
            Rights Act, the Ralph Civil Rights Act, and the California  
            Trafficking Victims Protection Act, among others.  


          3)Authorizes a victim of human trafficking, under the California  
            Trafficking Victims Protection Act (Section 52.5 of the Civil  
            Code), to bring a civil action for actual damages,  
            compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any  
            combination of those, or any other appropriate relief.  A  
            prevailing plaintiff may also be awarded reasonable attorney's  
            fees and litigation costs including, but not limited to,  
            expert witness fees and expenses as part of the costs. 


          4)Requires such actions to be brought within seven years of the  
            date on which the trafficking victim was freed from the  
            trafficking situation, or if the victim was a minor when the  
            act of human trafficking against the victim occurred, within  
            10 years after the date the plaintiff attains the age of  
            majority.  Existing law provides for the stay of these actions  
            and the tolling of the statute of limitations for these  
            actions under specified circumstances. 


          5)Provides that whoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or  
            makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to specified  
            civil and personal rights is liable for each and every offense  








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            for the actual damages, and any amount that may be determined  
            by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, up to a maximum  
            of three times the amount of actual damage but in no case less  
            than $4,000, and any attorney's fees that may be determined by  
            the court in addition thereto.


          6)Provides, in relevant part, that whoever denies a right  
            provided by Section 51.7 (the Ralph Civil Rights Act), or  
            aids, incites, or conspires in that denial, is liable for each  
            and every offense for the actual damages suffered by any  
            person denied that right and, in addition, the following:

                 an amount to be determined by a jury, or a court sitting  
               without a jury, for exemplary damages;

                 a civil penalty of $25,000 to be awarded to the person  
               denied the right provided by the Ralph Civil Rights Act in  
               any action brought by the person denied the right, or by  
               the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city  
               attorney; and 

                 attorney's fees as may be determined by the court.  


          1)Provides that whenever there is reasonable cause to believe  
            that any person or group of persons is engaged in conduct of  
            resistance to the full enjoyment of any civil or personal  
            rights, as specified, and that conduct is of that nature and  
            is intended to deny the full exercise of those rights, the  
            Attorney General, any district attorney or city attorney, or  
            any person aggrieved by the conduct, may bring a civil action  
            in the appropriate court by filing with it a complaint. 


          2)Provides that actions brought pursuant to the above provisions  
            are independent of any other actions, remedies, or procedures  
            that may be available to an aggrieved party pursuant to any  
            other law. 


          3)Specifies the functions, powers, and duties of the DFEH, which  








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            include, among other things, to receive, investigate,  
            conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging  
            practices made unlawful pursuant to the Fair Employment and  
            Housing Act and other specified nondiscrimination or personal  
            and civil rights laws, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act  
            (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of certain  
            characteristics in business practices) and the Ralph Civil  
            Rights Act (relating to the right to be free from hate  
            violence based on certain characteristics), among others.  


          This bill:


          1)Authorizes the DFEH to receive, investigate, conciliate,  
            mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging human trafficking,  
            and bring civil actions for, a victim of human trafficking, as  
            described above.  


          2)Specifies that any damages awarded in any action brought by  
            the DFEH pursuant to the California Trafficking Victims  
            Protection Act shall be awarded to the person harmed by the  
            violation of Section 236.1 of the Penal Code (making human  
            trafficking a felony), above.  


          3)Specifies that costs and attorney's fees awarded in such an  
            action shall be awarded to the DFEH and that these remedies  
            and procedures shall be independent of any other remedy or  
            procedure that might apply.


          Background


          In 2005, AB 22 (Lieber, Keuhl and Liu, Chapter 240, Statutes of  
          2005) enacted the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act,  
          explicitly rendering human trafficking a felony in this state  
          and adding a new civil rights statute to grant human trafficking  
          victims a longer statute of limitations period than other  
          victims of civil rights crimes to bring their claims due to the  








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          special circumstances faced by those victims. (See Pen. Code  
          Sec. 236.1 and Civ. Code Sec. 52.5.)  Specifically, the  
          resulting statute, as amended by subsequent legislation, permits  
          a victim of human trafficking to bring a civil action to recover  
          actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages,  
          injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other  
          appropriate relief, and sets the statute of limitations for  
          bringing such claims within seven years of the date on which the  
          trafficking victim was freed from the trafficking situation.   
          Moreover, if the victim was a minor when the act of human  
          trafficking against the victim occurred, the statute of  
          limitations is extended to ten years after the date the  
          plaintiff attains the age of majority. 


          This bill seeks to allow the Department of Fair Employment and  
          Housing to receive, investigate, and prosecute claims that may  
          be brought under the state's Trafficking Victims Protection Act  
          on behalf of victims of human trafficking, as specified.


          Comments


          According to the author, "existing law already allows a victim  
          of human trafficking to bring a civil action against the  
          perpetrator.  However, this statute has rarely if ever been  
          used.  Victims of human trafficking lack the resources and  
          information to make use of their right to bring an action and  
          receive compensation for harm suffered.  This bill would allow  
          DFEH to bring an action on the victim's behalf and award damages  
          and penalties to the victim." 


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified6/27/16)











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          Consumer Attorneys of California




          OPPOSITION:   (Verified6/27/16)


          None received


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:  In support of the bill, the Consumer  
          Attorneys of California writes: 


            It has been over ten years since California adopted a  
            comprehensive approach to human trafficking.  AB 22 (Chapter  
            240, Stats. of 2005) created a human trafficking task force,  
            added a chapter to the Penal Code defining the crime of human  
            trafficking and providing penalties, and created a civil cause  
            of action for victims of human trafficking.  In 2012, Attorney  
            General Kamala Harris convened a working group to reassess  
            human trafficking in our state.  The working group's final  
            report noted [that] in "just two years of reporting,  
            California's nine regional anti-trafficking task forces  
            initiated over 2,500 investigations, identified almost 1,300  
            victims of human trafficking, and arrested almost 1,800  
            individuals."  Despite those actions, the report concluded  
            that human trafficking continues to be "a substantial problem  
            facing California" and, in some ways, has become worse due to  
            the increasing role played by transnational and domestic  
            criminal networks.  This bill seeks to address the problem by  
            effectively authorizing [. . . ] the Department of Fair  
            Employment and Housing to bring a civil action on the victim's  
            behalf.  Although existing law allows victims to bring civil  
            actions against perpetrators for actual and punitive damages,  
            many victims lack resources to bring an action.  This bill  
            would allow public authorities to bring actions and award  
            damages to victims."  










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          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 4/14/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,  
            Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth  
            Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,  
            Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,  
            Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,  
            Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,  
            Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark  
            Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,  
            Wood, Rendon
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Irwin, Levine, Melendez, Nazarian


          Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
          6/29/16 15:50:38


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