An effort to criminalize hate litter passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee in Sacramento on Tuesday. It is the first step to make the distribution of hate litter unlawful. It comes after San Diego residents in several neighborhoods found antisemitic fliers on sidewalks, in driveways and on car windshields last year.
San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward introduced the legislation, which is sponsored by the City of San Diego.
"There is recourse for our city attorney or any civil prosecutor to be able to deter this activity and to be able to and allow for a civil penalty for those who are offending," said Ward. “This is unfortunately a growing trend. And so a lot of things that we do at the state capital respond to what we're seeing that are happening right in our own very communities.”
While crime in San Diego decreased overall in 2023, hate crimes increased by 73% over 2022. Specifically, hate crimes targeting religious groups increased four-fold, and half of those incidences had an anti-Jewish nexus, according to a report from the San Diego Police Department.
"This is not just something that affects us in an existential way. It affects us very personally," said Rabbi Jeremy Gimbel. "These incidents are really unsettling. We've had congregants have Nazi insignias spray painted on their garage doors. We have had to increase our security on our campus."
The updated civil rights protections would allow victims to pursue a claim of up to $25,000 and expand the definition of 'intimidation by threat of violence' to include the distribution of hateful materials on private property 'for the purpose of terrorizing.'
"It's not about speech, it's about acts. And we've seen a dramatic increase in this type of activity across the state. The law has not kept up with it,” said Robert Trestan, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) West division.
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The ADL reports double digit increases in white supremacist propaganda distribution and white supremacist events in California in 2023.
"This is a law that's designed not to impact speech, but is to target the deliberate acts," said Trestan.
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The City of San Diego sponsors the bill. City Councilmember Raul Campillo hopes the legislation sends the message that local governments take hate incidences and hate crimes seriously. His district is home to several of the neighborhoods where hate litter was distributed in 2023.
"It's very difficult to prevent a hate crime as it's happening. So having a penalty that is going to have some serious teeth in it is hopefully going to be the preventative measure we can take," said Campillo.
Rabbi Gimbel reinforces the notion that acts of hatred are not solely the legislature's problem to solve.
“What we need to do more is not spread pamphlets anonymously, but to sit down and have conversations with each other so that we can lift each other up,” said Gimbel. “Whether it's Jewish community, Muslim community, Christian community, we should all be able to live freely and in safety.”
