Racial, Ethnic, Religious, and Minority Violence

Listed below are some of the other key Penal Code statutes which have been enacted to curb racial, ethnic, religious, and minority violence in California. If you are the victim of or a witness to any of the activities described by these statutes, immediately contact your local law enforcement or police agency:

1. Penal code section 136.2 provides for protective orders. The district attorney or city attorney may seek protective orders to protect against further harm to or intimidation of hate crimes victims and witnesses by the accused perpetrators.
   
   Once criminal charges are filed under the Bane Civil Rights Act, or under any other criminal statute, hate crime victims have the right to a court order prohibiting any additional harassment from, or any communication or contact with the accused perpetrator.
   
   
2. Penal code section 139 creates a felony when someone already convicted of a felony communicates a credible threat to use force or violence to witnesses, victims, informants or their immediate families. The penalty is one year in county jail or two to four years in state prison.
   
   
3. Penal code section 140 creates a misdemeanor when someone communicates a credible threat to witnesses, victims, informants or their immediate families to use force or violence. This does not require that the perpetrator already be convicted of a related crime. The penalty is one year in county jail or two to four years in state prison.
   
   
4. Penal code section 185 provides that it is a misdemeanor for any person to wear any mask, false whiskers or any personal disguise (whether complete or partial) in order to evade or escape discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of any public offense.
   
   
5. Penal code section 186.21 declares that it is the right of every person, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, or handicap, to be protected from fear, intimidation, and physical harm caused by theactivities of violent groups and individuals. (This is part of the "California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act," enacted in 1988.)
   
   
6. Penal code section 190.03 provides that a person who commits first-degree murder shall be punished by life imprisonment in state prison without the possibility of parole if the defendant intentionally killed the victim because of the victim's actual or perceived disability, gender, or sexual orientation.
   
   
7. Penal code section 190.2, subdivision (a)(16), provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole when a person is intentionally murdered because of his or her race, color, religion, nationality, or country of origin.
   
   
8. Penal code section 302 makes it a misdemeanor willfully to disturb a group which has met for religious worship with unnecessary noise, profanity, or behavior which is rude and/or indecent.
   
   
9. Penal code section 538c makes it a misdemeanor for any person who attaches or inserts an unauthorized advertisement in a newspaper offered for sale or made available for free and who redistributes it or has the intent to redistribute it to the public.
   
   
10. Penal code section 594 makes it a crime to deface, damage, or destroy another's property. This is either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending primarily on the amount of damage. This statute may be applied to racial, ethnic, religious, gender, disability and political violence against property.
    
    
11. Penal code section 594.1 makes it unlawful for a minor to purchase or any person or entity other than a parent to provide a minor with aerosol paint containers in excess of six ounces. A court can order community service, graffiti removal or counseling in the event of a violation of this section.
    
    
12. Penal code section 594.3 makes it a crime knowingly to vandalize a church, synagogue, or any building owned and occupied by a religious educational institution, or knowingly to vandalize any other place primarily and regularly used as a place of worship. This can be either a felony or misdemeanor. It is a felony if the vandalism is committed because of the race, color, religion or national origin of an individual or group and in order to intimidate and deter those persons from exercising their religious beliefs.
    
    
13. Penal code section 640.2 makes it a misdemeanor to stamp, print, place or insert any writing in or on any box, package or other container containing a consumer product offered for sale.
    
    
14. Penal code section 1170.75 makes it possible to impose higher sentences for felonies committed because of the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, nationality, country of origin, ancestry, disability, gender, or sexual orientation.
    
    
15. Penal code section 1170.8 makes it possible to impose higher sentences for a robbery, or an assault with a weapon or by any means likely to produce great bodily injury, committed against a person while that person is in a church, synagogue, or any other place primarily and regularly used as a place of worship, or for arson of a place primarily used as a place of worship
    
    
16. Penal code section 1170.85 makes it possible to impose higher sentences for a felony if the victim is particularly vulnerable, or unable to defend himself or herself, due to age or significant disability. Penal Code section 667.9 provides specific term enhancements for repeat offenders who commit certain crimes against persons whom the perpetrator knows is disabled, persons 65 years or older, or persons under the age of 14.
    
    
17. Penal code section 11410 (terrorism) expresses the Legislature's intent that it is the right of every person, regardless of his or her race, color, creed, religion, gender, or national origin, to be secure and protected from fear, intimidation and physical harm caused by the activities of violent groups and individuals. This section also contains the Legislature's express finding that the advocacy of unlawful violent acts by groups against other persons or groups where death and/or great bodily injury is likely, is not constitutionally protected, poses a threat to public order and safety, and should be subject to criminal and civil sanctions.
    
    
18. Penal code section 11411 makes it a misdemeanor to burn or desecrate a cross or other religious symbol, or to display a sign, mark, symbol, or emblem (e.g., a Nazi swastika) on another's private property, or on the property of a primary, junior high or high school, for the purpose of terrorizing (i.e., causing a person to fear for his other personal safety) the owner or occupant of the private property or any person associated with the school.
    
    
19. Penal code section 11412 makes it a felony for a person to attempt to cause or to cause another, by means of a direct, personal threat of unlawful injury upon any person or property, to refrain from exercising his or her religion, or engaging in a religious service. It must reasonably appear to the recipient of the threat that the threat could be carried out.
    
    
20. Penal code section 11413 makes it a felony for a person to explode, ignite or to attempt to explode or ignite, any destructive device, or to commit arson in any church, temple, synagogue, or other place of worship, any offices or buildings where counsel representing groups working for or against abortion meet or organize, any place in which a presentation regarding abortion is conducted, any bookstore or public or private library, any courthouse, the home or office of a judicial officer, any building occupied by probation officers, and any private property if the property was targeted because of the race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation of the owner or occupant of the property.
    
    
21. Penal code section 11460 makes it a misdemeanor for two or more persons to assemble as a paramilitary organization for the purpose of practicing with weapons. This section also makes it a misdemeanor for any individual to demonstrate to another how to make or use any firearm, explosive, or destructive device while knowing or having reason to know that this device will be used in an unlawful manner for purposes of civil disorder.
    
    
22. Penal code section 12303.2 makes it a felony "recklessly or maliciously" to have in one's possession an explosive or destructive device at or near any public place, including churches.
    
    
23. Penal code section 13519.4 requires the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission to train peace officers in racial and cultural diversity, including gender and sexual orientation issues.

Effective January 1, 2001, Education Code section 233 requires the State Board of Education to revise the school curriculum to include human relations education, with the aim of fostering an appreciation of the diversity of California's population and discouraging the development of discriminatory attitudes and practices. Education Code section 32228 provides that public schools should have access to supplemental resources to combat bias on the bases contained in Government Code section 12926 of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (see Chapter 2, Employment), and to prevent and respond to acts of hate violence. At the same time, Education Code section 32228.1 requires school districts that receive funds under the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act to certify that funds will be used for one or more of a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, preventing and responding to acts of hate violence and bias related incidents. Effective also January 1, 2001, Education Code section 44253.3 adds course work on human relations to the curriculum for a certificate to provide certain services to limited-English-proficient pupils. As of January 1, 2001, Penal Code sections 628, 628.1, 628.2, and 628.5 require the Department of Education to report on hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes.

Penal code section 13023 requires local law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice any criminal act where there is reasonable cause to believe the crime was motivated by the victim's race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability. The Department of Justice is required to issue an annual report on July 1^st of every year concerning such crimes.

Penal code section 13515.25, effective January 1, 2001, requires that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training establish a continuing education course relating to law enforcement interaction with developmentally disabled and mentally ill persons.

Penal code section 13519.6 provides that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training shall develop guidelines and a course of instruction and training in hate crimes for law enforcement officers who are employed as peace officers or enrolled in a training academy for law enforcement officers. Hate crime for purposes of this section means any act of intimidation, harassment, physical force, or the threat of physical force, directed against any person, or family, or their property or advocate, motivated either in whole or in part by the hostility to the real or perceived ethnic background, national origin, religious belief, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation of that person, with the intent to cause fear and intimidation.

Pursuant to the federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. § 534 et seq., the United States Department of Justice collects data on hate crimes.

Education Code Provisions Regarding Hate Crimes

In 1994, the Legislature enacted the California Schools Hate Violence Reduction Act of 1995. This Act requires the State Board of Education to do the following if private funds are available, and if requested by the Superintendent of Public Instruction:

1. adopt policies and guidelines to prevent and respond to acts of violence;



2. revise existing state curricula, frameworks and guidelines to include human relations education;



3. establish guidelines for use in teacher and administrator in-service training programs:



1. to promote an appreciation of diversity;
   
   
2. to discourage discriminatory attitudes and practices among pupils, teachers, administrators, and counselors; and
   
   
3. to enable teachers and administrators to prevent and respond to acts of hate violence;
   
   
4. revise guidelines previously adopted by the Board to include procedures to prevent and respond to acts of hate violence; and



5. encourage teachers to impress upon the minds of pupils the meaning of equality and human dignity and to foster an environment that is free from discriminatory attitudes, practices, events, or activities, in order to prevent acts of hate violence. (Ed. Code, §§ 201 and 233.5.)

Among the grounds for the suspension or expulsion of a pupil in grades four through 12 is now the commission of acts of hate violence. (Ed. Code, §§ 48900.3 and 48915.)

Education Code section 233.8 provides that effective January 1, 2001, the State Department of Education, subject to available funding, is required to provide training to school district personnel in identifying and determining hate violence on school campuses. Pupils and teachers may participate in a grant program focused on fostering ethnic sensitivity, overcoming racism and prejudice, and countering hatred and intolerance, subject to available funding.

Under Government Code sections 13959-13969.4, some crime victims may be eligible for financial assistance for unreimbursed expenses resulting from the crime.

For information and assistance, contact:

California Department of Justice
Attorney General's Office
Office of Victims' Services
1300 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Toll Free Number: (877) 433-9069 (in California)

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