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<ns0:Id>20250AB__153599INT</ns0:Id>
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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-01-05</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Davies</ns0:AuthorText>
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<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Davies</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Title> An act to amend Sections 422.55 and 422.56 of the Penal Code, relating to hate crimes. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>hate crimes</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Hate crimes: political affiliation.</ns0:Subject>
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<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p>Existing law defines “hate crime” as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill, the Hortman-Kirk Political Violence Prevention Act, would add political affiliation to the list of actual or perceived characteristics. The bill would define “political affiliation” to mean the state of belonging to a political party, the endorsement of a political party or a platform of a political party, or the endorsement of a politician or a platform of a politician. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.</html:p>
<html:p>The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school
districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.</html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>This act shall be known, and may be cited as, the Hortman-Kirk Political Violence Prevention Act.</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Section 422.55 of the
<ns0:DocName>Penal Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Num>422.55.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>For purposes of this title, and for purposes of all other state law unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different meaning, the following shall apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
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“Hate crime” means a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim:
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<html:p>
(1)
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Disability.
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<html:p>
(2)
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Gender.
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<html:p>
(3)
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Nationality.
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<html:p>
(4)
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Race or ethnicity.
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<html:p>
(5)
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Religion.
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<html:p>
(6)
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Sexual orientation.
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<html:p>
(7)
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Political affiliation.
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<html:p>
(8)
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Association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
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<html:p>
(b)
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“Hate crime” includes, but is not limited to, a violation of Section 422.6.
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
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Section 422.56 of the
<ns0:DocName>Penal Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Num>422.56.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
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“Association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics” includes advocacy for, identification with, or being on the premises owned or rented by, or adjacent to, any of the following: a community center, educational facility, family, individual, office, meeting hall, place of worship, private institution, public agency, library, or other entity, group, or person that has, or is identified with people who have, one or more of the characteristics listed in the definition of “hate crime” under paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 422.55.
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<html:p>
(b)
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“Disability” includes mental disability and
physical disability, as defined in Section 12926 of the Government Code, regardless of whether those disabilities are temporary, permanent, congenital, or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness. This definition is declaratory of existing law.
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<html:p>
(c)
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“Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression. “Gender expression” means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior regardless of whether it is stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.
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<html:p>
(d)
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“In whole or in part because of” means that the bias motivation must be a cause in fact of the offense, whether or not other causes also exist. When multiple concurrent motives exist, the prohibited bias must be a substantial factor in bringing about the particular result. There is no requirement that the bias be a main factor, or that the crime would not
have been committed but for the actual or perceived characteristic. This subdivision does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law under In re M.S. (1995) 10 Cal.4th 698 and People v. Superior Court (Aishman) (1995) 10 Cal.4th 735.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Nationality” means country of origin, immigration status, including citizenship, and national origin. This definition is declaratory of existing law.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Political affiliation” means the state of belonging to a political party, the endorsement of a political party or a platform of a political party, or the endorsement of a politician or a platform of a politician.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, and ethnic background.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Religion” includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice and includes agnosticism and atheism.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Sexual orientation” means heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
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“Victim” includes, but is not limited to, a community center, educational facility, entity, family, group, individual, office, meeting hall, person, place of worship, private institution, public agency, library, or other victim or intended victim of the offense.
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII
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B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
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B of the California Constitution.
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