New Year, New California Laws
CALIFORNIA (KION-TV) From police reform to stricter sexual assault rules, a whole new set of laws are set to go into effect across the state. We’ve broken down a few of them here:
Bad cops are getting the boot
SB 2 is a new law that intends to decertify “bad cops.”
An officer with serious misconduct could potentially be stripped of their license to work in law enforcement, essentially kicking them out of the profession. California will now be one of only four states in the country with this power.
There have been cases of officers fired from one department, then quietly moving to another department, according to Calmatters.
However, the state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training would have the power to decide whether or not an officer loses their license. It would also create an advisory board with mainly people that don't have policing experience to look into serious misconduct allegations and make recommendations to the commission on whether to revoke an officer’s certification.
The commission would need a two-thirds vote to decertify an officer.
No more tear gas, projectile weapons, or harassing reporters at protests
Unless they need to bring a life-threatening situation under control, law enforcement will no longer be allowed to use projectile weapons and tears at protesters under AB 48.
This bill would prohibit the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, or demonstration, except in compliance with specified standards set by the bill, and would prohibit their use solely due to a violation of an imposed curfew, verbal threat, or noncompliance with a law enforcement directive.
AB 48.
Agencies will also need to report when they use less lethal weapons like rubber bullets.
A separate law will also prevent agencies from assaulting or interfering with reporters covering protesters. SB 98 would ensure reporters can be in protest areas without being arrested and prohibits police from “intentionally assaulting, interfering with, or obstructing” their newsgathering.
Building duplexes and apartments just got easier
Lawmakers are making it easier to build more homes with two new housing laws.
SB 9 would allow most homeowners to build two houses in places where there is currently only one house allowed, essentially allowing someone to turn their large backyard into duplexes. SB 9 would grant homeowners the ability to build two and possibly a third housing unit.
Cities will also have an easier time to building apartment building news transit center too. SB 10 would let a local government rezone single-family parcels to allow as many as 10 units near public transit hubs and within urban areas. The hope is to build more houses to drive down prices.
Both laws would allow homeowners and developers to skip the review process, but the city would still need to approve the project.
Removing your condom without consent is officially illegal
Lawmakers say it is now illegal to remove a condom without partners' knowledge or consent-- also known as "stealthing." The first bill makes California the first state in the country to outlaw it.
Urban Dictionary says it's legally considered a form of rape or sexual assault in some places and considered a horrible thing to do everywhere else.
AB 453 makes it so that "stealthing" would be considered sexual battery under the state’s Civil Code, allowing victims to sue their sexual partners for damages.
This bill would additionally provide that a person commits a sexual battery who causes contact between a sexual organ, from which a condom has been removed, and the intimate part of another who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed. The bill would also specify that a person commits a sexual battery who causes contact between an intimate part of the person and a sexual organ of another from which the person removed a condom without verbal consent.
AB 453
Certain NDA’s are now illegal
SB 331 bans employers from using secret settlements to prevent workers from speaking out about all kinds of illegal harassment or discrimination, with some limited exceptions.
Existing law prohibits a settlement agreement from preventing the disclosure of factual information regarding specified acts related to a claim filed in a civil action or a complaint filed in an administrative action. These acts include sexual assault, as defined; sexual harassment, as defined; an act of workplace harassment or discrimination based on sex, failure to prevent such an act, or retaliation against a person for reporting such an act; and an act of harassment or discrimination based on sex by the owner of a housing accommodation, as defined, or retaliation against a person for reporting such an act.
SB331
Here are other bills that go into effect in 2022
