Tom Bane Civil Rights Act in California

Civil Code Section 52.1(a) created the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, which provides that, if a person, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threat, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threat, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney may bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured.

An action brought by the Attorney General, any district attorney, or any city attorney may also seek a civil penalty of $25,000. If this civil penalty is requested, it must be assessed individually against each person who is determined to have violated this section and the penalty is to be awarded to each individual whose rights under this section are determined to have been violated.

In addition, any individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of California, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, may institute and prosecute in their own name a civil action for damages, including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, and other appropriate equitable relief to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured.

If a court issues a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction in an action brought that orders a defendant to refrain from conduct or activities, the order issued must include the following statement: VIOLATION OF THIS ORDER IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 422.77 OF THE PENAL CODE. The plaintiff or attorney must deliver copies of the any order to each local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the residence of the plaintiff and any other locations where the court determines that acts of violence against the plaintiff are likely to occur.

The court may award the petitioner or plaintiff reasonable attorney’s fees. A violation of an order may be punished either by prosecution or by a proceeding for contempt.

Speech alone is not sufficient to support an action brought, except upon a showing that the speech itself threatens violence against a specific person or group of persons; and the person or group of persons against whom the threat is directed reasonably fears that, because of the speech, violence will be committed against them or their property and that the person threatening violence had the apparent ability to carry out the threat.

Any order issued cannot restrict the content of any person’s speech. An order restricting the time, place, or manner of any person’s speech must do so only to the extent reasonably necessary to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of constitutional or statutory rights, consistent with the constitutional rights of the person sought to be enjoined.