Hate Crime Statute Applied Against Police Officers.

The Bane Act ( Hate Crime Statute ) allows the Attorney General or any city or district attorney to sue in equity “[i]f a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threats, 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 . . . .” (Civil Code section 52.1, subdivision (a)).  Here, plaintiff, the manager of an apartment complex, asked police why they were arresting some tenants, and he was beaten and arrested himself. He was acquitted of all criminal charges and a jury in this later civil action awarded him $523,000.  The court awarded $989,258 in attorney fees and refused to tax costs of $24,103.75 for courtroom technology.  On appeal, the appellate court rejected defendant county and police officers’ argument that as a matter of law, Fourth Amendment rights are not among the constitutional rights protected by the Hate Crime Statute, the Bane Act, stating: “Here, the Bane Act applies because there was a Fourth Amendment violation – an arrest without probable cause – accompanied by the beating and pepper spraying of an unresisting plaintiff, i.e., coercion that is in no way inherent in an arrest, either lawful or unlawful.”  Bender v. County of Los Angeles  (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 8; July 9, 2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 968.