B 2099 Fine-Tunes California’s Statutory Hate Crime Protections, Expands Them for Reproductive Health Services

May 2025

By Paul Myslin

The harm caused by hate crimes has long been recognized in California. A new bill effective this year adds further protections to California’s hate crime statute, including expanded protections for reproductive health care facilities.

In 1987, the passage of the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, §§51.7, 52.1) (1987 Cal AB 63) provided a civil cause of action (injunctive or other equitable relief) for interfering with a person’s civil rights through threats of violence, intimidation or coercion, committed because of a protected characteristic or membership in a protected group. In the same bill, Penal Code section 422.6 criminalized these hate-motivated behaviors, with a conviction punishable by up to six months in county jail or a fine up to $5000 or both. (Pen. Code, §422.6(c).)

Additional criminal penalties are found in Penal Code section 422.7, designed to elevate misdemeanors to felonies if committed for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with the person’s civil rights under certain circumstances, such as a present ability to commit a violent injury, the existence of an actual physical injury, property damage over $1000, or if the defendant has already suffered a prior conviction of the section. In 1991, a companion statute (Pen. Code, § 422.75) was enacted to provide enhancements of one, two, or three years in state prison for felonies and attempted felonies that are also hate crimes.

So what are the characteristics that make conduct a hate crime? In 2004, the legislature defined the term “hate crime” in broad strokes to mean a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because the victim had (or was perceived to have) one or more characteristics, including:

(1) Disability, (2) Gender, (3) Nationality, (4) Race or ethnicity, (5) Religion, or (6) Sexual orientation. (Cal. Pen. Code, § 422.55(a)(1)-(6). See also CALCRIM 1354-1355.)

Each of these characteristics is further defined in Penal Code section 422.56 and CALCRIM 1354-1355. Association with a person or group with one of the above characteristics was also protected. (Pen. Code, § 422.55(a)(7).)

Hate crime protections have also come to include the physical locations used by or associated with protected groups or individuals. The legislature defined the term “victim” to encompass such places as community centers, educational facilities, offices, meeting halls, place of worship, private institutions, public agencies, and libraries. (Pen. Code, § 422.56, subd. (i).)

Recently, hate crime protections were expanded even further with last year’s passage of AB 2099, directed toward reproductive health services and clinics. Effective January 1, 2025, certain crimes formerly punishable only as a misdemeanors were redefined as wobblers, enabling felony prosecution. These include posting personal information or images online with the intent that the information be imminently used to commit a violent crime or threat of violence against a reproductive services patient, provider, or even co-resident at the same home address. Similarly, interference and intimidation of a person’s civil rights because of actual or perceived characteristics — such as disability, gender, religion, race, or sexual orientation — is now a potential wobbler: similar to Penal Code section 422.7, but without the enumerated circumstances discussed above.

Finally, impeding access (by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction) to specified locations that provide reproductive health services, may now be considered and charged as felonious conduct under appropriate circumstances. (See Cal. Gov. Code, § 6218.01; Pen. Code, §§422.6, 423.3.)

For more on hate crimes and their definitions, see California Criminal Sentencing Enhancements (Cal. CEB) chapter 3.

This article was originally published by the legal news service of Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB). To read more news and analysis from CEB, register for a free account at research.ceb.com/news.

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