Fines Replace Jail in Bill Setting Penalties for Hiring Preferences

The author of a measure to impose criminal penalties on California public officials who use race and gender-based preferences in hiring, college admissions and promotions has withdrawn the part of the bill that would have included jail time as a punishment.

But bureaucrats and others who defy the ban on affirmative action practices in state government ordered by Gov. Pete Wilson would still be liable for a criminal fine of up to $1,000, said Assemblyman Bernie Richter (R-Chico).

When introduced this year and passed by an Assembly committee, Richter’s AB 2468 called for the option of county jail or state prison sentences of up to one year for a violation, potentially raising the stakes for those not complying with the ban.

A voter initiative on the November ballot that proposes ending affirmative action contains no such penalties.

Richter said he removed the jail time component after “discussions with [fellow Assembly Republicans] and a few others.”

All he was interested in, Richter said, was elevating violations of the affirmative action ban to criminal status. When he discovered he could do that without including incarceration as a penalty, but still call for a hefty fine, he said he agreed to modify the proposal.

The measure was before a second Assembly committee Wednesday, where it was expected to be approved and moved on to probable passage on the lower house floor. In the Democrat-controlled state Senate, however, passage is considered doubtful. A Senate aide said several Democrats consider the measure “out of line.”