Opinion No. (2005)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General SUSAN DUNCAN LEE Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE SHEILA JAMES KUEHL, MEMBER OF THE STATE SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following questions: 1. If a perpetrator commits a sexual assault wholly or partly because of the victim's gender, and the perpetrator has no animosity toward the individual victim or toward persons with that gender, has a hate crime been committed? 2. If a perpetrator commits a crime wholly or partly because the perpetrator perceives that the victim's disability, gender, or other protected characteristic makes the victim more vulnerable to the commission of the crime, and the perpetrator has no animosity toward the victim or toward persons with that protected characteristic, has a hate crime been committed? 3. If a perpetrator commits a crime wholly or partly because the victim is under the care of the perpetrator for a disability, and the perpetrator has no animosity toward the victim or toward persons with that disability, has a hate crime been committed? 4. What definition of "hate crime" is to be applied by a local law enforcement agency in reporting hate crimes to the Department of Justice? CONCLUSIONS 1. If a…