BILL NUMBER: AB 1400	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 7, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Laird
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Berg, Evans, Goldberg, Hancock,
Jones, Klehs, Koretz, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Montanez, Oropeza,
Pavley, and Yee)
   (Coauthors: Senators Kehoe, Kuehl, and Migden)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2005

   An act to amend Sections 51, 51.5, 51.7, 51.8, and 53 of the Civil
Code, relating to civil rights.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1400, as amended, Laird.  Civil Rights Act.
   The Unruh Civil Rights Act generally prohibits business
establishments from discriminating on the basis of sex, race, color,
religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, or medical
condition. The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides civil remedies for
violations of its provisions.
   This bill would further prohibit that discrimination on the basis
of marital status or sexual orientation, and would define related
terms. The bill would also integrate those definitions into other
related provisions, and would make specified findings and
declarations in that regard.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.
   This act shall be known and may be cited as "The Civil Rights Act
of 2005."
  SEC. 2.
   The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) Even prior to passage of the Unruh Civil Rights Act,
California law afforded broad protection against arbitrary
discrimination by business establishments. The Unruh Civil Rights Act
was enacted to provide broader, more effective protection against
arbitrary discrimination. California's interest in preventing that
discrimination is longstanding and compelling.
   (b) In keeping with that history and the legislative history of
the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California courts have interpreted the
categories enumerated in the act to be illustrative rather than
restrictive. It is the intent of the Legislature that these
enumerated bases shall continue to be construed as illustrative
rather than restrictive.
   (c) The Legislature affirms that the bases of discrimination
prohibited by the Unruh Civil Rights Act include, but are not limited
to, marital status and sexual orientation, as defined herein. By
specifically enumerating these bases in the Unruh Civil Rights Act,
the Legislature intends to clarify the existing law, rather than to
change the law, as well as the principle that the bases enumerated in
the act are illustrative rather than restrictive.  
   (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the amendments made
to the Unruh Civil Rights Act by this act do not affect the
California Supreme Court's rulings in Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson
(1982) 30 Cal.3d 721 and O'Connor v.  Village Green Owners
Association (1983) 33 Cal.3d 790. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 51 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   51.
   (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Unruh
Civil Rights Act.
   (b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and
equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital
status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in
all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to confer any right or
privilege on a person that is conditioned or limited by law or that
is applicable alike to persons of every sex, color, race, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital
status, or sexual orientation.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
   (e) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Disability" means any mental or physical disability as
defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code.
   (2) "Medical condition" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (h) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
   (3) "Religion" includes all aspects of religious belief,
observance, and practice.
   (4) "Sex" has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (p) of
Section 12926 of the Government Code.
   (5) "Sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation"
includes a perception that the person has any particular
characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or
that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived
to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the
listed categories.
   (6) "Sexual orientation" has the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (q) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
   (f) A violation of the right of any individual under the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) shall also
constitute a violation of this section.
  SEC. 4.  Section 51.5 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   51.5.
   (a) No business establishment of any kind whatsoever shall
discriminate against, boycott or blacklist, or refuse to buy from,
contract with, sell to, or trade with any person in this state on
account of any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or
(e) of Section 51, or of the person's partners, members,
stockholders, directors, officers, managers, superintendents, agents,
employees, business associates, suppliers, or customers, because the
person is perceived to have one or more of those characteristics, or
because the person is associated with a person who has, or is
perceived to have, any of those characteristics.
   (b) As used in this section, "person" includes any person, firm,
association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation,
limited liability company, or company.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter in any way
the authority of the State Architect to require construction,
alteration, repair, or modifications that the State Architect
otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
  SEC. 5.  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.
  SEC. 6.  Section 51.8 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   51.8.
   (a) No franchisor shall discriminate in the granting of franchises
solely on account of any characteristic listed or defined in
subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51 of the franchisee and the
composition of a neighborhood or geographic area reflecting any
characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section
51 in which the franchise is located. Nothing in this section shall
be interpreted to prohibit a franchisor from granting a franchise to
prospective franchisees as part of a program or programs to make
franchises available to persons lacking the capital, training,
business experience, or other qualifications ordinarily required of
franchisees, or any other affirmative action program adopted by the
franchisor.
   (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
construction, alteration, repair, structural or otherwise, or
modification of any sort whatsoever, beyond that construction,
alteration, repair, or modification that is otherwise required by
other provisions of law, to any new or existing establishment,
facility, building, improvement, or any other structure, nor shall
anything in this section be construed to augment, restrict, or alter
in any way the authority of the State Architect to require
construction, alteration, repair, or modifications that the State
Architect otherwise possesses pursuant to other laws.
  SEC. 7.  Section 53 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   53.
   (a) Every provision in a written instrument relating to real
property that purports to forbid or restrict the conveyance,
encumbrance, leasing, or mortgaging of that real property to any
person because of any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision
(b) or (e) of Section 51 is void, and every restriction or
prohibition as to the use or occupation of real property because of
any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of
Section 51 is void.
   (b) Every restriction or prohibition, whether by way of covenant,
condition upon use or occupation, or upon transfer of title to real
property, which restriction or prohibition directly or indirectly
limits the acquisition, use or occupation of that property because of
any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of
Section 51 is void.
   (c) In any action to declare that a restriction or prohibition
specified in subdivision (a) or (b) is void, the court shall take
judicial notice of the recorded instrument or instruments containing
the prohibitions or restrictions in the same manner that it takes
judicial notice of the matters listed in Section 452 of the Evidence
Code.