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By David Gammill · Last reviewed: August 24, 2026
California Civil Code 52.1, known as the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, lets you sue anyone who interferes with your civil rights through threats, intimidation, or coercion. The law applies whether or not the person who violated your rights works for the government, and it does not require proof of a hate motive.
Not sure how this law applies to your situation? Call Gammill Law at 310-750-4149 for a free consultation, or send us a message through our contact page.
The heart of the statute for injured people is subdivision (c), which creates your right to sue. Here is the exact text:
Any individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, as described in subdivision (b), may institute and prosecute in their own name and on their own behalf a civil action for damages, including, but not limited to, damages under Section 52, injunctive relief, and other appropriate equitable relief to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured, including appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate a pattern or practice of conduct as described in subdivision (b).
Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1(c). Read the full section at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
In plain English: if someone uses threats, intimidation, or coercion to interfere with a right you hold under California or federal law, or even attempts to, you can sue that person directly for money damages, for a court order stopping the conduct, or both. Subdivision (b), which subdivision (c) points back to, describes the prohibited conduct itself: interference “by threat, intimidation, or coercion” with rights secured by the federal or state Constitutions or laws, “whether or not acting under color of law.” Acting under color of law is the legal phrase for acting with government authority, so the statute reaches both private wrongdoers and government actors.
You do not need to prove a hate motive, discriminatory intent, or membership in a protected class to bring a Bane Act claim. The Legislature passed the Bane Act in 1987 in response to a rise in hate crimes, but the California Supreme Court settled in Venegas v. County of Los Angeles (2004) 32 Cal.4th 820 that plaintiffs pursuing constitutional violations under the statute “need not allege that defendants acted with discriminatory animus or intent, so long as those acts were accompanied by the requisite threats, intimidation, or coercion.” Any individual whose rights were interfered with by those means can sue in their own name.
A Bane Act claim has three building blocks. First, a right you actually hold under the United States or California Constitution or laws, such as the right to be free from an unreasonable search or seizure. Second, interference with that right, or an attempt to interfere with it. Third, that the interference happened by threat, intimidation, or coercion. Coercion means pressure through force or threats; intimidation means conduct meant to make you afraid.
California appellate courts are split on how much extra coercion you must show when the violation itself is coercive. In Shoyoye v. County of Los Angeles (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 947, a man was kept in jail past his release date because of a clerical error. The court held that where the violation arises from mere negligence, the plaintiff must show coercion independent of the coercion inherent in the wrongful detention itself. Five years later, Cornell v. City and County of San Francisco (2017) 17 Cal.App.5th 766 read that rule narrowly: where the claim is an intentional violation such as an arrest without probable cause, no separate act of coercion is required. What matters under Cornell is whether the officer acted with specific intent to violate the right, a test that is satisfied by reckless disregard of a clearly established right. The practical takeaway is that deliberate misconduct fits the Bane Act; a paperwork accident, standing alone, generally does not.
Subdivision (c) allows an injured person to recover money damages, including the damages made available by Civil Code section 52, along with injunctive relief and other equitable relief, including orders aimed at ending a pattern or practice of the conduct. Under subdivision (i), the court may also award the plaintiff reasonable attorney’s fees, which matters in civil rights cases where the out-of-pocket losses may be smaller than the seriousness of the violation. Separately, when the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney brings the action on the public’s behalf, subdivision (b) lets that office seek a civil penalty of $25,000 assessed against each violator and awarded to each person whose rights were violated. That penalty belongs to government enforcement actions; a private lawsuit is built on damages, equitable relief, and fees.
Yes. The statute expressly reaches people acting “under color of law,” and since 2022 it strips away several government immunity defenses. Senate Bill 2, effective January 1, 2022, added subdivision (n), which provides that the state immunities in Government Code sections 821.6, 844.6, and 845.6 do not apply to Bane Act claims against peace officers, custodial officers, or the public entities that employ them. Subdivision (o) confirms that the normal public employee indemnification rules still apply, which means the employing agency generally pays a judgment entered against its officer.
One procedural rule changes everything when the defendant is a public agency. Before you can sue a California public entity for money damages, you must first present a written government claim, generally within six months of the injury, under Government Code section 911.2. The California Supreme Court held in State of California v. Superior Court (Bodde) (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1234 that timely claim presentation is an element of the cause of action itself, so skipping it bars the lawsuit. In the South Bay, that means a Bane Act case involving an agency such as the Torrance Police Department or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department starts with the government claim, not the complaint. For the short version of the police-force question, see our FAQ: Can I sue the police for excessive force in California?
For most Bane Act damages claims, the lawsuit deadline is two years from the violation. California courts treat Bane Act damages claims as personal injury claims for statute of limitations purposes, as the Court of Appeal explained in Gatto v. County of Sonoma (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 744, decided when the personal injury period was still one year. Today that period is two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. When the defendant is a public entity, the six-month government claim deadline arrives first and controls whether you ever reach the two-year mark.
| Defendant | First deadline | Lawsuit deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Private person or business | None before filing | 2 years from the violation (CCP § 335.1) |
| California public entity or its employee | Written government claim within 6 months (Gov. Code § 911.2) | Set by the Government Claims Act after the claim is acted on; see our § 911.2 explainer |
Usually not. The statute answers this directly in subdivision (k):
Speech alone is not sufficient to support an action brought pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c), except upon a showing that the speech itself threatens violence against a specific person or group of persons; and the person or group of persons against whom the threat is directed reasonably fears that, because of the speech, violence will be committed against them or their property and that the person threatening violence had the apparent ability to carry out the threat.
Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1(k). Read the full section at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
In plain English: words by themselves do not create a Bane Act claim unless they are a credible threat of violence aimed at a specific person or group, the target reasonably fears violence because of them, and the speaker appears able to carry the threat out. This keeps the statute focused on genuine threats rather than offensive or heated speech. For a broader look at your rights during police encounters, see our guide to police stops and illegal detentions in California.
Yes. The text quoted on this page took effect January 1, 2022, when Senate Bill 2 (Stats. 2021, ch. 409) added the immunity and indemnification provisions in subdivisions (n) and (o). The Legislature has not amended Civil Code 52.1 since. We verified the full text against the official California Legislative Information site and independent mirrors on the review date above.
Gammill Law handles civil rights cases in Torrance and across the South Bay. If someone interfered with your rights through threats, intimidation, or coercion, call 310-750-4149 for a free consultation, or reach us through our contact page. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no fee unless we win. Learn more about our Torrance personal injury practice.
