Party-line vote sends bill by Bonnie Lowenthal to the Senate.
SACRAMENTO – Homeless people who fall prey to violence could sue their attackers for enhanced civil penalties under a bill passed by the state Assembly today.
“We’re sending a simple message: If you think it’s fun to attack homeless people, you better be ready to empty your pockets,” said Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, the bill’s author.
Lowenthal’s bill would declare in plain language that homeless people enjoy the same civil rights to safety as everyone else. And it adds homeless people to a list of protected classes who can sue for larger sums of damages should they be attacked solely because of their membership in that class.
California has one of the largest homeless populations in the country, about 157,000 people. It also has the second-highest rate of violence against the homeless, after Florida.
“This past year, homeless people have been set on fire, stabbed, shot and beaten with baseball bats,” Lowenthal said. “Their assailants seem convinced they are less likely to get caught or suffer serious legal consequences because their victims are so powerless and vulnerable.”
The bill would not increase criminal penalties for attacks on homeless people. Instead, it increases the amount of damages a homeless person could claim in a civil lawsuit.
“My hope is that it shatters the sense of safety from consequences that these bullies seem to enjoy,” said Lowenthal.
The bill passed along party lines, with Republicans opposed and Democrats in support.
Assemblymember Anthony Adams, a Republican from Hesperia, opposed the bill saying homeless people should not be treated like other protected classes, since their status is based on a “lifestyle choice.” The bill, he said, “runs the risk of turning everything into a hate crime.”
Democratic Assemblymember Mary Salas of Chula Vista spoke in favor of the bill, noting that “25 percent of the people on our streets are veterans.”
“I really think that we have to support this bill, and we have to change the idea and the stereotype of those who are on our streets,” Salas said.
Contact: Will Shuck @ (916) 319-2054
