Opinion ID: 2583901
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Liability of County and its Sheriff Under Civil Code Section 52.1

Text: Finally, County argues that the Court of Appeal erred in concluding plaintiffs could state a cause of action against County, its sheriff's department and sheriff, under Civil Code section 52.1 for unreasonable search and seizure. According to County, the section applies only to so-called hate crimes and requires a showing, not alleged here, that the defendants acted with discriminatory animus, i.e., an intent to threaten or coerce another in violation of their constitutional rights, based on the victim's actual or apparent racial, ethnic, religious, or sexual orientation or other minority status. (See, e.g., In re Michael M. (2001) 86 Cal.App.4th 718, 725-726, 104 Cal.Rptr.2d 10 [describing the intent element underlying hate crime legislation].) We disagree, as nothing in Civil Code section 52.1 requires any showing of actual intent to discriminate. Civil Code section 52.1, subdivision (a), provides that if a person interferes, or attempts to interfere, by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment of the constitutional or statutory rights of any individual or individuals, the Attorney General, or any district or city attorney, may bring a civil action for equitable or injunctive relief. Subdivision (b) allows [a]ny individual so interfered with to sue for damages. Subdivision (g) states that an action brought under section 52.1 is independent of any other action, remedy, or procedure that may be available to an aggrieved individual under any other provision of law, including Civil Code section 51.7. Civil Code section 51.7, a separate and independent enactment referred to in section 52.1, declares that all persons have the right to be free from violence or intimidation because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or position in a labor dispute, or because they are perceived by another to have any of these characteristics. Section 52, subdivision (b), makes persons who violate section 51.7 liable for actual and exemplary damages and penalties. Boccato v. City of Hermosa Beach (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 1797, 1809, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 282, concluded that a plaintiff who brings an action under Civil Code section 52.1 must be a member of one of the classes protected by Civil Code section 51.7. Thereafter, in 2000, after the events giving rise to this action, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill No. 2719 (1999-2000 Reg. Sess.) (hereafter Assembly Bill 2719) to explain that Boccato erred in that assumption, and to clarify that Civil Code section 52.1 applies to an affected plaintiff without regard to his or her membership in a protected class identified by its race, color, religion, or sex, among other things. (Stats.2000, ch. 98, ง 1.) The Court of Appeal in the present case determined that the trial court, relying on Boccato's erroneous interpretation of the statute, improperly sustained demurrers without leave to amend to plaintiffs' cause of action under Civil Code section 52.1. The appellate court recognized that the 2000 pronouncements of legislative intent did not apply in this case, but based on its independent interpretation of the statute, the court rejected Boccato and determined that Civil Code section 52.1 did not, in 1998, require a plaintiff to be a member of a protected class. County evidently agrees with the Court of Appeal's analysis in this respect, as it does not presently rely on Boccato, which indeed seems inconsistent with the statutory language of Civil Code section 52.1, subdivision (b), allowing [ a]ny individual  (italics added) whose exercise or enjoyment of constitutional or statutory rights has been interfered with to sue the perpetrator for damages. Had the Legislature intended to limit the scope of section 52.1 to individuals protected under section 51.7, it could easily have done so. Instead of asserting that Boccato controls, County narrowly reads Assembly Bill 2719 as clarifying that a person can state a cause of action under Civil Code section 52.1 only if he or she is the victim of intimidation or interference based on an actual or perceived class or characteristic protected under section 51.7. We see no reasonable basis for such an interpretation. Assembly Bill 2719 explained that [s]ection 52.1 of the Civil Code guarantees 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 without regard to his or her membership in a protected class identified by its race, color, religion, or sex, among other things. (Italics added.) We cannot reasonably interpret this language, or the unambiguous language of section 52.1 itself, to restrict the benefits of the section to persons who are actual or perceived members of a protected class. Such an interpretation could have anomalous results, permitting or disallowing recovery based solely on the defendant's perceptions of the plaintiff's protected status. In Jones v. Kmart Corp. (1998) 17 Cal.4th 329, 338, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 844, 949 P.2d 941, we acknowledged that Civil Code section 52.1 was adopted to stem a tide of hate crimes. But contrary to County's position, our statement did not suggest that section 52.1 was limited to such crimes, or required plaintiffs to demonstrate that County or its officers had a discriminatory purpose in harassing them, that is, that they committed an actual hate crime. We continued in Jones by simply observing that the language of section 52.1 provides remedies for certain misconduct that interferes with federal or state laws, if accompanied by threats, intimidation, or coercion, and whether or not state action is involved. ( Jones, supra, at p. 338, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 844, 949 P.2d 941.) Plaintiffs have alleged such misconduct here. County predicts that allowing unrestricted civil actions under Civil Code section 52.1 will result in an incalculable increase in the filing of lawsuits in our State's courts, imposing heavy burdens on the already financially-strapped court system.... County observes that if section 52.1 indeed applied to all tort actions, the section would provide plaintiffs in such cases significant civil penalties and attorney fees as well as compensatory damages. First, Civil Code section 52.1 does not extend to all ordinary tort actions because its provisions are limited to threats, intimidation, or coercion that interfere with a constitutional or statutory right. Second, imposing added limitations on the scope of section 52.1 would appear to be more a legislative concern than a judicial one, and perhaps the Legislature would be advised to reexamine the matter. But we need not decide here whether section 52.1 affords protections to every tort claimant, for plaintiffs in this case have alleged unconstitutional search and seizure violations extending far beyond ordinary tort claims. All we decide here is that, in pursuing relief for those constitutional violations under section 52.1, plaintiffs need not allege that defendants acted with discriminatory animus or intent, so long as those acts were accompanied by the requisite threats, intimidation, or coercion. The Court of Appeal was correct in holding that plaintiffs adequately stated a cause of action under section 52.1.