CACI VF-3035 Bane Act (Civ. Code, § 52.1)
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
VF-3035 Bane Act (Civ. Code, § 52.1)
We answer the questions submitted to us as follows:
1.Did [name of defendant] make threats of violence against [[name of plaintiff]/ [or] [name of plaintiff]’s property]?
Yes No
[or]
1.Did [name of defendant] act violently against [[name of plaintiff]/ [and] [name of plaintiff]’s property]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 1 is yes, then answer question 2. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
2.Did [name of defendant]’s threats cause [name of plaintiff] to reasonably believe that if [he/she/nonbinary pronoun] exercised [his/her/nonbinary pronoun] right [insert right, e.g., “to vote”] [name of defendant] would commit violence against [[him/her/nonbinary pronoun]/ [or] [his/her/nonbinary pronoun] property] and that [name of defendant] had the apparent ability to carry out the threat?
Yes No
[or]
2.Did [name of defendant] commit these acts of violence to [prevent [name of plaintiff] from exercising [his/her/nonbinary pronoun] right [insert right, e.g., “to vote”]/retaliate against [name of plaintiff] for having exercised [his/her/nonbinary pronoun] right [insert right]]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 2 is yes, then answer question 3. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
3.Was [name of defendant]’s conduct a substantial factor in causing harm to [name of plaintiff]?
Yes No
If your answer to question 3 is yes, then answer question 4. If you answered no, stop here, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign and date this form.
4.What are [name of plaintiff]’s damages?
[a.Past economic loss
[lost earnings $]
[lost profits $]
[medical expenses $]
[other past economic loss $]
Total Past Economic Damages: $]
[b.Future economic loss
[lost earnings $]
[lost profits $]
[medical expenses $]
[other future economic loss$]
Total Future Economic Damages: $]
[c.Past noneconomic loss, including [physical
pain/mental suffering:]$]
[d.Future noneconomic loss, including [physical
pain/mental suffering:] $]
TOTAL $
[Answer question 5.
5.What amount do you award as punitive damages?
$]
After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant] that you are ready to present your verdict in the courtroom.
New September 2003; Revised April 2007, December 2010; Renumbered from CACI No. VF-3015 and Revised December 2012, December 2016
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Directions for Use
This verdict form is based on CACI No. 3066, Bane Act—Essential Factual Elements.
The special verdict forms in this section are intended only as models. They may need to be modified depending on the facts of the case.
Give the first option for elements 1 and 2 if the defendant has threatened violence. Give the second option if the defendant actually committed violence.
Civil Code section 52(a) provides for damages up to three times actual damages but a minimum of $4,000 for violations of Civil Code section 51 (Unruh Act), 51.5, and 51.6. Civil Code section 52(b) provides for punitive damages for violations of Civil Code sections 51.7 (Ralph Act) and 51.9. Neither subsection of Section 52 mentions the Bane Act or Civil Code section 52.1. Nevertheless, the Bane Act refers to section 52. (See Civ. Code, § 52.1(c).) This reference would seem to indicate that damages may be recovered under both subsections (a) and (b) of section 52. The court should compute the damages under section 52(a) by multiplying actual damages by three, and awarding $4,000 if the amount is less. Questions 5 addresses punitive damages under section 52(b).
If no actual damages are sought, the $4,000 statutory minimum damages may be awarded without proof of harm and causation. (See Koire v. Metro Car Wash (1985) 40 Cal.3d 24, 33 [219 Cal.Rptr. 133, 707 P.2d 195].) In this case, only questions 1 and 2 need be answered.
If specificity is not required, users do not have to itemize all the damages listed in question 4 and do not have to categorize “economic” and “noneconomic” damages, especially if it is not a Proposition 51 case. The breakdown of damages is optional depending on the circumstances.
If there are multiple causes of action, users may wish to combine the individual forms into one form. If different damages are recoverable on different causes of action, replace the damages tables in all of the verdict forms with CACI No. VF-3920, Damages on Multiple Legal Theories.
If the jury is being given the discretion under Civil Code section 3288 to award prejudgment interest (see Bullis v. Security Pac. Nat’l Bank (1978) 21 Cal.3d 801, 814 [148 Cal.Rptr. 22, 582 P.2d 109]), give CACI No. 3935, Prejudgment Interest. This verdict form may need to be augmented for the jury to make any factual findings that are required in order to calculate the amount of prejudgment interest.