Davis Names Panel to Study Curbs for Hate Crime Groups

In the aftermath of the Granada Hills day camp shooting, Gov. Gray Davis on Thursday named former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher and former Gov. George Deukmejian to lead a committee that will study laws to fight hate groups in California.

“Hate groups that preach intolerance and transform their venom into violence are a threat to civilized society,” Davis said. “The proliferation of these groups, especially those with paramilitary intentions, strikes at the heart of this state’s ideals. I am asking Secretary Christopher and Gov. Deukmejian to suggest ways the state can lawfully curtail the unlawful acts of these dangerous bigots.”

Davis called on the panel to conduct a comprehensive study and prepare a report examining existing laws relating to possible criminal or civil liability of hate groups, their leaders and members.

The governor also has requested the panel to examine laws that could be enacted or implemented to minimize or eliminate the harm done by hate groups and recommend new laws or measures to fight them.

Stanford University Law School Dean Kathleen Sullivan also has agreed to sit on the panel, Davis said. Other committee members will be named within a few weeks.

“A comprehensive study of our laws relating to such hate groups, and the violent acts that are incited by them, would be of great benefit . . . in enacting, amending or administering our laws,” Davis said.