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BILL NUMBER: SB 1454 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 601
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 26, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Senator Torlakson
(Coauthor: Senator Aanestad)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wolk)
FEBRUARY 23, 2006
An act to amend Section 48900 of, and to repeal Sections 32050 and
32051 of the Education Code, and to add Section 245.6 to the Penal
Code, relating to hazing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1454, Torlakson Crimes: hazing.
Existing law codifies within the Education Code the definition of
hazing and imposes criminal penalties on persons who haze.
This bill would repeal the Education Code hazing provisions and
instead codify within the Penal Code a new definition of hazing and
prescribe misdemeanor and felony penalties, as specified. This bill
would also allow a person to bring a civil action for injury or
damages against individuals who participate in the hazing or
organizations who authorize, request, command, participate in, or
ratify the hazing.
Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 32050 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 32051 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 48900 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48900. A pupil may not be suspended from school or recommended
for expulsion, unless the superintendent or the principal of the
school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has
committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to
(q), inclusive:
(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
physical injury to another person.
(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
except in self-defense.
(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished any firearm, knife,
explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of
possession of any object of this type, the pupil had obtained written
permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
principal.
(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or
been under the influence of, any controlled substance listed in
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the
Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of
any kind.
(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any
controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
or otherwise furnished to any person another liquid, substance, or
material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
private property.
(g) Stolen or attempted to steal school property or private
property.
(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or any products containing tobacco
or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes,
cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff,
chew packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit
use or possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.
(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or
vulgarity.
(j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
negotiated to sell any drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section
11014.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(k) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the
valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school
officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of
their duties.
(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private property.
(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
"imitation firearm" means a replica of a firearm that is so
substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
firearm.
(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as defined
in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code or
committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal
Code.
(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding
for the purpose of either preventing that pupil from being a witness
or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both.
(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
sold the prescription drug Soma.
(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 245.6 of the Penal Code.
(r) A pupil may not be suspended or expelled for any of the acts
enumerated in this section, unless that act is related to school
activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the
jurisdiction of the superintendent or principal or occurring within
any other school district. A pupil may be suspended or expelled for
acts that are enumerated in this section and related to school
activity or attendance that occur at any time, including, but not
limited to, any of the following:
(1) While on school grounds.
(2) While going to or coming from school.
(3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
(4) During, or while going to or coming from, a school sponsored
activity.
(s) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the
Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury
to another person may suffer suspension, but not expulsion, pursuant
to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged by a
juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a crime of
physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily injury
or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(t) As used in this section, "school property" includes, but is
not limited to, electronic files and databases.
(u) A superintendent or principal may use his or her discretion to
provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, including, but not
limited to, counseling and an anger management program, for a pupil
subject to discipline under this section.
(v) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
suspension or expulsion be imposed against any pupil who is truant,
tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
SEC. 4. Section 245.6 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
245.6. (a) It shall be unlawful to engage in hazing, as defined
in this section.
(b) "Hazing" means any method of initiation or preinitiation into
a student organization or student body, whether or not the
organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury to any
former, current, or prospective student of any school, community
college, college, university, or other educational institution in
this state. The term "hazing" does not include customary athletic
events or school-sanctioned events.
(c) A violation of this section that does not result in serious
bodily injury is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than
one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than five thousand dollars
($5,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one
year, or both.
(d) Any person who personally engages in hazing that results in
death or serious bodily injury as defined in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, is guilty of either
a misdemeanor or a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in
county jail not exceeding one year, or by imprisonment in the state
prison.
(e) The person against whom the hazing is directed may commence a
civil action for injury or damages. The action may be brought against
any participants in the hazing, or any organization to which the
student is seeking membership whose agents, directors, trustees,
managers, or officers authorized, requested, commanded, participated
in, or ratified the hazing.
(f) Prosecution under this section shall not prohibit prosecution
under any other provision of law.
SEC. 5. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Matt's Law"
in memory of Matthew William Carrington, who died on February 2,
2005, as a result of hazing.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
ARCHIVE:
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 32050-32051
32050. As used in this article, "hazing" includes
any method of initiation or preinitiation into a student organization
or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to such an organization
which causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger, physical harm,
or personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental
harm, to any student or other person attending any school, community
college, college, university or other educational institution in
this state; but the term "hazing" does not include customary
athletic events or other similar contests or competitions.
32051. No student, or other person in attendance at any public,
private, parochial, or military school, community college, college,
or other educational institution, shall conspire to engage in hazing,
participate in hazing, or commit any act that causes or is likely
to cause bodily danger, physical harm, or personal degradation or
disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm to any fellow student
or person attending the institution. The violation of this section
is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred
dollars ($100), nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or both.
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