XPost: alt.really-do-hate, alt.politics.republicans, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
   From: j_d@invalid.org   
      
   Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were   
   assassinated in their home in June. Three months later, conservative   
   activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Utah college   
   event.   
      
   These and other recent harrowing instances of political violence prompted   
   Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, to file a bill last week   
   that would add political affiliation to the list of classifications needed   
   to classify a hate crime in California.   
      
   AB 1535 is dubbed the Hortman-Kirk Political Violence Prevention Act,   
   defining political affiliation as “belonging to a political party, the   
   endorsement of a political party or platform of a political party, or the   
   endorsement of a politician or platform of a politician.”   
      
   California law already designates a hate crime as being committed because   
   of the victim’s real or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or   
   ethnicity, religion and/or sexual orientation, the bill noted.   
      
   And the state already offers protection for political affiliation for   
   certain things, including housing rights and employment, Davies said.   
      
   The bill “is about lowering the political temperature and establishing   
   strict penalties. It sets a clear boundary,” said Davies. “Looking at last   
   year with the horrific murders of Melissa Hortman and Charlie Kirk, it was   
   time that something had to be done.”   
      
   Hortman helped pass Democratic initiatives in the Minnesota statehouse,   
   including free lunches for public school students, and helped break a   
   budget impasse that threatened to shut down the state government last   
   year.   
      
   Kirk was an ally of President Donald Trump and founded Turning Point USA,   
   a student group that rallies conservatives on college campuses.   
      
   Both deaths in 2025 sparked concerns and condemnations among Democrats and   
   Republicans alike about political violence in the U.S.   
      
   Paul Pelosi, the husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was   
   severely injured when a man broke into his San Francisco home in 2022,   
   assaulting him and demanding to see his wife. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh   
   Shapiro’s home was intentionally set on fire last year while the   
   Democratic chief executive and his family were inside asleep. And Trump,   
   while campaigning in Pennsylvania in 2024, was injured in an assassination   
   attempt.   
      
   “Our nation was founded on political freedoms. However, political violence   
   is detrimental to our democracy and shouldn’t be tolerated,” said Davies.   
      
   “AB 1535 isn’t just about protecting Californians; it’s about a cultural   
   reset,” she added. “It’s a commitment to the idea that every Californian   
   has the right to their political views without fear of being targeted by   
   those who see them as an enemy rather than a neighbor.”   
      
   The bill was introduced the first week California legislators returned to   
   Sacramento for the 2026 session. A hearing for it has not yet been   
   scheduled.   
      
   In other news   
   • Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, was also quick to introduce   
   a new bill at the start of the legislative session. This one aims to   
   expand human trafficking data reporting by requiring additional   
   information to be recorded and published on the state’s criminal justice   
   data website, Open Justice.   
      
   AB 1541 would add the number of arrests and convictions, as well as the   
   number of victims of adult sex trafficking, child sex trafficking and   
   labor trafficking, to be among the information recorded there.   
      
   “This bill will address critical shortages in the public reporting of   
   human trafficking crimes and will give us clarity on how many individuals   
   are being arrested for perpetrating these heinous crimes,” said Dixon. “In   
   addition, having data regarding the number of convictions will provide a   
   clear picture on how successful we are at removing the perpetrators of   
   human trafficking from our streets.”   
      
   • Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, is the new Senate President pro   
   Tempore. She is a former school board member who worked in higher   
   education for 14 years. Limón is also the first Latina and first mother to   
   serve in that leadership post, Senate Democrats noted.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)