Last Updated on July 2, 2025
People commit crimes for many reasons, but jurors are usually more sympathetic when an offense was performed out of desperation or a result of a personal conflict rather than due to biased, hateful beliefs. To help protect the civil rights of individuals and punish those who victimize others based on prejudice, California has enacted many hate crime laws, which are codified under Penal Codes 422.55, 422.6, 422.7, and 422.75 (PC). If you have been accused of a hate crime in San Diego, contact a defense lawyer as soon as possible.
What is a Hate Crime In California?
California’s hate crime laws were enacted to protect citizens from being victimized based on certain traits. Under 422.55 (PC), it is a crime to do illegal acts against someone based on their actual or perceived :
- race or ethnicity —defined by the skin color and ancestry of an individual
- origin —including their citizenship and country of origin
- religion —which covers religious observances and practices, including agnosticism and atheism
- gender —both their birth gender and gender identity
- sexual orientation —meaning whether someone identifies as asexual, heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual
- disability —including both physical and mental handicaps
- association with a person or group in another protected category —this protects those who date individuals in one of the above categories and those who advocate on behalf of a protected group
While many people understand that these rules protect minorities from discriminatory acts of those in the majority, the law does not distinguish between one protected class or another. If a trans, black, Jewish lesbian in a wheelchair attacks a straight, cis, Christian white man based on any of these protected characteristics, she would be subject to hate crime charges just like the man would be if the situation were reversed.
Are Hate Crime Charges Always Enhancements?
Allegations of hate crimes can result in serious penalties being added to even the most minor offenses. In most cases, hate crime charges are not stand-alone offenses but what are known as “enhancements” to the underlying crime. Charges filed under Penal Code 422.7 (PC) or 422.75 (PC) are applied when someone commits a crime based on a bias against someone protected under the state’s protected categories above. As a result, you cannot be convicted for either of these offenses if you’re found innocent of the original crime.
Unlike other hate crimes, Penal Code 422.6 (PC) is a stand-alone crime in California. However, these charges only apply in cases where someone has willingly harmed a person or their property or intimidated, interfered with, or threatened someone to prevent them from exercising their legal and constitutional rights. In other words, if someone blocks another person from using the restroom, entering a sporting event, or otherwise exercising their rights, and this action was done because of prejudice against a protected class of people, they could be convicted under this offense.
How Prosecutors Prove These Charges
It can be surprisingly hard to concretely state what a hate crime is under California law. The problem is that simply expressing a dislike of a protected class of people is considered free speech under the United States Constitution. So, while calling someone the “N-word” may be reprehensible, it is not against the law.
Beyond that, just because someone has expressed prejudiced beliefs in the past and committed a crime against a person of a different religion, gender, nationality, etc., doesn’t automatically mean the offense itself was a hate crime. Instead, the motivation for the crime must be purely out of hate. For someone to be convicted of a hate crime, the prosecution must prove that the defendant chose their victim based on a protected characteristic, which can be difficult in many cases, especially when you have a lawyer fighting on your behalf.
For example, if a white man carjacked a vehicle belonging to a black man, it would not be charged as a hate crime unless he indicated that his motivation was due to race. If he said something like, “These cars are too good for people like you,” he could easily be charged with a hate crime. On the other hand, if all evidence indicated that he simply chose a victim at random, then it would be unlikely that he could be charged with a hate crime, even if he was a known white supremacist.
Never Speak to Police Without Your Lawyer Present
When you are arrested, always remember that anything you say can and will be used against you, so you should always invoke your right to speak to your San Diego hate crime attorney as soon as you are arrested. Failing to do so could result in your words being twisted against you later.
For example, if you are arrested for assaulting someone you don’t like for personal reasons and make an angry, off-handed comment about that person’s sexual orientation or race while you are under arrest, the police could use that as evidence that you targeted the victim based on a protected category.
Penalties for Hate Crimes in California
Charges for 422.7 (PC) are filed against those accused of an underlying misdemeanor offense and may result in the crime being filed as a misdemeanor or felony. The sentence for these hate crimes is either 1 year in jail or, if the offense is charged as a felony, up to 3 years in prison.
When the underlying offense was already a felony, enhancements will be filed under 422.75 (PC). Those convicted of this charge will have an additional 1-3 years added to their prison sentence, but if the crime was committed with another person, another year may be added.
The stand-alone charges filed under 422.6 (PC) are misdemeanors. The penalties for this hate crime is up to one year in jail and a fine of $5,000.
Aside from prison and fines, a misdemeanor conviction under any hate crime penal code in California results in an individual losing their right to possess a firearm for the next 10 years. Those convicted of a felony will lose their right to possess a gun for life. These weapons bans aren’t something to be ignored, as violating the law is a felony and will result in a lifetime ban on firearm ownership.
Defenses Against Hate Crimes
Defenses for these charges vary based on which specific charges were filed. All of these offenses can be fought by arguing the defendant did not act based on a bias against a protected group of people, whether that means the act never occurred or that the victim was not targeted based on their identity. Similarly, San Diego defense attorneys often attempt to negotiate a plea bargain to ensure their client will not face hate crime charges if they agree to plead guilty to another offense.
For charges related to 422.7 or 422.75 (PC), a lawyer may sometimes focus on fighting the underlying offenses because these enhancements cannot be applied without a conviction of another crime. On the other hand, in cases filed under 422.6 (PC), lawyers often argue that the alleged crime did not prevent the victim from exercising their legal or constitutional rights.
If you have been accused of any crime and believe the police or prosecutor may try to argue that you targeted the victim based on some protected characteristics, such as race or sex, call San Diego attorney Peter M. Liss immediately. Please call (760) 643-4050 to schedule a free consultation.
