BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2706
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
AB 2706 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010
As Proposed To Be Amended
SUBJECT : HATE CRIMES: HOMELESS PEOPLE
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD HOMELESS PEOPLE BE CLEARLY PROTECTED AGAINST
HATE-BASED VIOLENCE?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This timely measure seeks to address the sizeable and disturbing
problem of hate-based violence against some of the most
vulnerable members of our society. According to the author,
there are an estimated 157,000 homeless people in California,
many of whom suffer from mental and physical illness, and are
less likely to receive comprehensive medical treatment.
Compounding these difficulties, homeless people are often the
target of violent attacks because they are perceived to be
defenseless targets, second-class citizens unworthy of respect
or mercy, or because the perpetrators know the likelihood of
suffering legal consequences from their actions is not as high
as it would be if they assaulted another member of the
community. Supporters of the bill report that California has
the second-highest rate of violence against the homeless in the
nation. This bill would address the problem through the proven
mechanism of the hate-crimes statute, adding homeless people to
the list of persons protected against hate-based violence.
There is no opposition.
SUMMARY : Clarifies protections and remedies for hate-based
violence directed at homeless people. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the protections and remedies of the Ralph Civil
Rights Act include violence or intimidation by threat of
violence committed against a person or property because the
person is or is perceived to be homeless.
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2)Defines "homeless person" to mean a person who does not have a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; a person
that has a nighttime residence that constitutes any of the
following: 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; an institution that
provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be
institutionalized; or a public or private building or
designated area that is not ordinarily designed for, or
ordinarily used for, sleeping accommodations for persons.
3)Would not add to the workload of the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing or the Fair Employment and Housing
Commission.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Ralph Civil Rights Act, which provides that
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 personal or other characteristics or statuses, such
as political affiliation, sex, race, color, religion, marital
status, sexual orientation or position in a labor dispute.
(Civil Code section 51.7.)
2)Provides that a person who violates the Ralph Civil Rights Act
or aids, incites, or conspires in that act, is liable for
actual damages suffered by any person denied that right, as
well as a civil penalty and attorney's fees. (Civil Code
section 52(b).)
3)Further 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 of the
foregoing rights the Attorney General, any district attorney
or city attorney, or any person aggrieved by the conduct may
bring a civil action. (Civil Code section 52(c).)
COMMENTS : The author explains the need for the bill as follows:
There are an estimated 157,000 homeless people in
California, perhaps the most vulnerable population in the
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state. They are more likely to suffer from mental and
physical illness, and less likely to receive comprehensive
medical treatment. Even worse, they are the population
most likely to be the target of violent attacks. In the
last year alone, homeless people have been set on fire,
stabbed, shot, and beaten with baseball bats. California
has the second-highest rate of violence against the
homeless in the nation.
Young adults, primarily in their teens, are the most common
perpetrators of violence against the homeless: 43% are
between the ages of 13 and 19 and nearly 3 out of 4 of the
attackers are under 25. While the motives for these
attacks are not always clear, it is obvious that many were
committed because the victim was homeless or because the
homeless are more vulnerable.
The perpetrators may perceive the homeless as easy
defenseless targets. They may see the homeless as
second-class citizens, unworthy of respect or mercy. These
criminals may prey on the homeless because they know the
likelihood of suffering legal consequences from their
actions is not as high as it would be if they assaulted
another member of the community.
Growing Concern Regarding Hate Violence Directed At Homeless
People. The author notes that there are serious concerns about
the perplexing increase in violence toward homeless people, as
documented by a number of studies, including a report by the
National Coalition for the Homeless entitled "Hate Crimes and
Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2008"
(available at
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/hatecrimes/index.htm
l) and a Special Report to the Legislature on Senate Resolution
18, 2002 "Crimes Committed Against Homeless Persons" (available
at http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/publications/misc/SR18net/preface.pdf.)
The author notes in addition that this phenomenon has been
previously recognized by the Legislature in Penal Code section
13519.64, which provides:
The Legislature finds and declares that research, including
"Special Report to the Legislature on Senate Resolution 18:
Crimes Committed Against Homeless Persons" by the
Department of Justice and "Hate, Violence, and Death: A
Report on Hate Crimes Against People Experiencing
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Homelessness from 1999-2002" by the National Coalition for
the Homeless demonstrate that California has had serious
and unaddressed problems of crime against homeless persons,
including homeless persons with disabilities.
This Bill Would Provide Additional Means Of Deterring And
Punishing Hate-Based Violence Against Homeless People. The
Ralph Civil Right Act of 1976 currently provides that all
persons have the right to be free from violence and intimidation
by threat of violence based on, among other things, race,
religion, ancestry, national origin, and gender. These rights
may be enforced by a private action for damages and equitable
relief as well as criminal sanctions for violations. By
establishing these rights and providing access to the courts for
their vindication, the Ralph Act was designed to provide
important and, it appears, largely effective protection for the
classes of people covered by the statute. In light of the
evident problem of hate violence directed at some people because
they are homeless, this bill seeks to duplicate that success by
expressly extending these protections to another vulnerable
group, adding the term "homeless person" to the list of
protected characteristics and statuses under the Act, borrowing
definitions drawn from federal law to capture the practical
meaning of that term. (See 42 U.S.C. section 11302.)
Among the bill's supporter is PATH Partners, a collection of
agencies dedicated to helping people in need throughout southern
California. It states, "We have seen first-hand the tragic
problem of violence against the homeless in our community. Last
year, when our Long Beach Connections initiative surveyed 350
homeless people in the downtown area of Long Beach, we found
that 40 percent of them had experienced violence while living on
the streets. That same year, a homeless man in Long Beach was
brutally beaten into a coma. By classifying attacks against the
homeless as a civil crime, AB 2706 would discourage many
would-be offenders from committing these violent acts."
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also writes in support of
the bill, stating: "Despite the 38% decline in the rate of
homelessness from April 2007 to November 2009, the homeless of
Los Angeles remain targets of violent acts due in part to the
lack of protection by the law. Legislation passed would utilize
civil penalties as a means to punish abuses where there was no
precedent before."
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LA County Supervisor Hon. Don Knabe adds, "In the past two
years, there have been a number of senseless murders and
incidents of violence committed against homeless persons across
Los Angeles County. It is clear to me that some criminal acts
against the homeless are motivated not only by their
vulnerability, but also the perpetrators' disdain and disrespect
for them simply because they are homeless. If enacted into law,
AB 2706 will affirm the right of homeless individuals to seek
justice if an act of violence was committed against them because
of their status as a homeless individual. I believe this
legislation is the right thing to do. It will help protect a
vulnerable population, and also continue to promote a better
understanding of the plight of the homeless across our
communities, and ultimately stop the violence."
Importantly, in an era of fiscal limitations, the bill would
provide a proven tool to combat this troubling problem without
adding to the workload of the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing or the Fair Employment and Housing Commission in light
of the many challenges currently facing those agencies.
Author's amendments. In order to appropriately focus the bill
and clarify the intent, the author proposes to amend the bill as
follows:
(b) This section includes any violence, or intimidation by
threat of violence, committed against a person or property of a
homeless person because the person is, or is perceived to be, a
homeless person.
(1) 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.
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(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.
(2) This subdivision shall not be construed to enlarge or
diminish an existing legal duty, if any, by an owner of
residential rental 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 .
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teachers Association
Consumer Attorneys of California
Gramercy Housing Group
Hon. Don Knabe, LA County Supervisor
National Association of Social Workers -- California
PATH Partners
Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Kevin G. Baker / JUD. / (916) 319-2334