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Examples of Hate Crimes Include:

• Using force or threatening to use force to injure, intimidate, or interfere with another person who is exercising his or her constitutional rights because of that person's actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, or disability is a misdemeanor.

For example, under California law, all persons have the right to be free from violence or threat of violence against their person or property because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability. (California Civil Code § 51.7 and Penal Code § 186.21)

• Defacing or damaging another person's property to intimidate or interfere with that person's free exercise of his or her constitutional rights because of that person's actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, or disability is a misdemeanor if the damage is less than $500.
• Any crime which would otherwise be a misdemeanor which is committed because of the victim's actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, or disability and in which the victim is threatened with serious injury or is actually physically injured or the damage to property exceeds $500 may be punished as a felony. If the offender has been convicted previously of a hate crime, he or she also may be punished for a felony.
• Any felony which is committed because of the victim's actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, or disability is punishable not only by the prison term prescribed for that felony, but also by an additional one, two, or three years if the person acted alone. If the person acted in concert with another, an additional two, three or four years may be imposed.
• Vandalizing a church, synagogue, office of a religious organization, or other place of worship may be either a felony or a misdemeanor. lf the vandals are damaging the property in order to intimidate people from exercising their religious beliefs, the crime becomes a felony.
• Once criminal charges are filed, hate crime victims have the right to a court order prohibiting any additional communication or contact from the offender. These protective orders (CA Penal Code § 136.2) are enforceable by law enforcement agencies. Violation of these orders can be a misdemeanor, or a felony, if accompanied by force or threat of force.
• Desecrating a religious symbol or displaying a swastika on another person's property with the intent to terrorize another person may be either a felony or a misdemeanor.
• Burning or bombing a church, synagogue, or other house of worship to terrorize other persons is a felony.
• Businesses are prohibited by the Civil Code from boycotting or discriminating against any other business or person because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, or disability of the business owners, their employees, or customers.

Not all expressions of hate or group bias rise to the level of a hate crime as defined in state and federal statute. Derogatory words or epithets directed against a member of a protected class, as listed above, if not accompanied by a threat of harm with the apparent ability to carry the threat out are considered protected speech and not a hate crime. A hate incident is not classified as a criminal act.

Examples of Hate Incidents Include:

• Circulating offensive material such as hate flyers stuffed in mailboxes or thrown on lawns.
• Posting hate material that does not result in property damage such as demeaning caricatures depicting a racial, ethnic or religious group.
• Displaying hate graffiti in public places which is not directed against a specific victim such as an epithet on a vacant building or on a freeway overpass (although this is a crime of vandalism).

• The following groups are protected from hate crimes:
• Race
• Color
• Nationality
• Country of Origin
• Ancestry
• Religion
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender
• Physical or Mental Disability

A victim may also be threatened or injured because the criminal perceives the victim to be of a certain, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, gender or sexual orientation. The act is still a crime even though the victim may not actually belong to the protected class.