California Assembly Bill AB1405 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1405AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 11, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Judiciary (Feuer (Chair), Atkins, Dickinson, Huber, Huffman, Monning, and Wieckowski) MARCH 7, 2011  An act to add Section 69614.4 to the Government Code, relating to courts.   An act to amend Section 51.   7 of the Civil Code, and to repeal Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976, relating to civil rights.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1405, as amended, Committee on Judiciary.  Courts: judgeships.   Civil rights.   The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 provides, in part, that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, on account of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation.   This bill would repeal the provision entitling the act the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, and would instead state the findings of the Legislature that the above-described provision was enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.   Existing law specifies the number of judges for the superior court of each county and for each division of each district of the court of appeal.   This bill would authorize 50 additional judges, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, to be allocated to the various county superior courts, pursuant to uniform criteria approved by the Judicial Council. The bill would specify that the creation of judgeships is contingent upon moneys being identified for that purpose in the annual Budget Act.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes   no  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 51.7 of the   Civil Code   is amended to read:  51.7. (a) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of political affiliation, or on account of any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51, or position in a labor dispute, or because another person perceives them to have one or more of those characteristics. The identification in this subdivision of particular bases of discrimination is illustrative rather than restrictive. (b) This section does not apply to statements concerning positions in a labor dispute which are made during otherwise lawful labor picketing.  (c) The Legislature finds and declares that this section was enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, in Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976.   SEC. 2.   Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976 is repealed.   SECTION 1.   This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.   SECTION 1.   Section 69614.4 is added to the Government Code, to read: 69614.4. Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act of moneys expressly identified for the purpose of this section, there shall be 50 additional judges allocated to the various county superior courts, pursuant to the uniform criteria described in subdivision (b) of Section 69614, as approved by the Judicial Council on October 28, 2008. No judgeship shall be created pursuant to this section unless funding for that purpose is provided in the annual Budget Act.