BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 312
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 312 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
As Amended April 7, 2011
2/3 vote
JUDICIARY 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-3
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| | | | |
| |Feuer, Atkins, Dickinson, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Huber, Huffman, Monning, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Wieckowski | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
|Ayes:| | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wagner, Silva, Jones | | |
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Nielsen |
| | | | |
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ASSEMBLY: 52-24 (May 16, 2011)
SENATE:24-14 (July 14, 2011)
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.
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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Minor absorbable workload increase, from increased claims and
investigations, to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing
(DFEH), which is charged with enforcing the Ralph Civil Rights
Act.
2)Minor increase in court costs and caseloads, and in the civil case
backlogs, due to additional filings related to a new cause of
action.
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 state. Of those
30,000 are veterans. 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 three
out of four 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."
This bill is identical to the author's measure last year, AB 2706,
which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who cited a concern that
the bill "could result in legal challenges and increased court
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costs."
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 National Coalition
for the Homeless' report on "America's Growing Tide of Violence,
August 2010" (available at www.nationalhomeless.org) which follows
up on an earlier report entitled "Hate Crimes and Violence Against
People Experiencing Homelessness 2008," and a Special Report to the
Legislature on Senate Resolution 18 (Burton) (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.
The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 (Ralph Act) 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 Ralph Act,
borrowing definitions drawn from federal law to capture the
practical meaning of that term.
The bill's supporters include agencies dedicated to helping people
in need throughout southern California. They assert that they have
seen first-hand the tragic problem of violence against homeless
people. By classifying attacks against the homeless as a civil
crime, they believe, this bill would discourage many would-be
offenders from committing these violent acts.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
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"This bill would expand the provisions of the Ralph Civil Rights Act
to include homelessness or the perception that one is homeless,
thereby creating new private and administrative enforcement
remedies. It is undeniable that homeless people are vulnerable to
victimization, but California already has very strong civil and
criminal laws that provide sufficient protection."
Analysis Prepared by : Kevin G. Baker / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0001747