BILL NUMBER: AB 1837	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Donnelly

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Section 236.1 of the Penal Code, relating to human
trafficking.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1837, as introduced, Donnelly. Human trafficking.
   Under existing law, any person who deprives or violates the
personal liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a
felony violation of specified sex crimes, extortion, or to obtain
forced labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking. A violation
of those provisions is punishable by imprisonment in the state
prison for 3, 4, or 5 years, except that if the victim was under 18
years of age at the time of the commission of the offense, the
offense is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 6,
or 8 years.
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 236.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   236.1.  (a) Any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another  person  with the intent to effect or
maintain a felony violation of Section 266, 266h, 266i, 267, 311.4,
or 518, or to obtain forced labor or services, is guilty of human
trafficking.
   (b)  Except as provided in subdivision (c), a violation of this
section is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for three,
four, or five years.
   (c) A violation of this section where the victim of the
trafficking was under 18 years of age at the time of the commission
of the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for
four, six, or eight years.
   (d) (1) For purposes of this section, unlawful deprivation or
violation of the personal liberty of another includes substantial and
sustained restriction of another's liberty accomplished through
fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of
unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, under
circumstances where the person receiving or apprehending the threat
reasonably believes that it is likely that the person making the
threat would carry it out.
   (2) Duress includes knowingly destroying, concealing, removing,
confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or
immigration document of the victim.
   (e) For purposes of this section, "forced labor or services" means
labor or services that are performed or provided by a person and are
obtained or maintained through force, fraud, or coercion, or
equivalent conduct that would reasonably overbear the will of the
person.
   (f) The Legislature finds that the definition of human trafficking
in this section is equivalent to the federal definition of a severe
form of trafficking found in Section 7102(8) of Title 22 of the
United States Code.
   (g) (1) In addition to the penalty specified in subdivision (c),
any person who commits human trafficking involving a commercial sex
act where the victim of the human trafficking was under 18 years of
age at the time of the commission of the offense shall be punished by
a fine of not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
   (2) As used in this subdivision, "commercial sex act" means any
sexual conduct on account of which anything of value is given or
received by any person.
   (h) Every fine imposed and collected pursuant to this section
shall be deposited in the Victim-Witness Assistance Fund to be
available for appropriation to fund services for victims of human
trafficking. At least 50 percent of the fines collected and deposited
pursuant to this section shall be granted to community-based
organizations that serve victims of human trafficking.