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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