CACI No. VF-3035. Bane Act (Civ. Code, § 52.1)

Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2025 edition)

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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]?
1. Yes No
1. [or]
1. Did [name of defendant] act violently against [[name of plaintiff]/
[and] [name of plaintiff]’s property]?
1. Yes No
1. 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?
2. Yes No
2. [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]]?
2. Yes No
2. 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]?
3. Yes No
3. 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.
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4. What are [name of plaintiff]’s damages?
[a. Past economic loss
[lost earnings $ ]
[lost profits $ ]
[medical expenses $ ]
[other past economic loss $ ]
[a. Total Past Economic Damages: $ ]
[b. Future economic loss
[lost earnings $ ]
[lost profits $ ]
[medical expenses $ ]
[other future economic loss $ ]
[b. Total Future Economic Damages: $ ]
[c. Past noneconomic loss, including [physical
pain/mental suffering:] $ ]
[d. Future noneconomic loss, including [physical
pain/mental suffering:] $ ]
[d. TOTAL $
[Answer question 5.
5. What amount do you award as punitive damages? $ ]
Signed: Presiding Juror
Dated:
After [this verdict form has/all verdict forms have] been signed, notify
the [clerk/bailiff/court attendant].
New September 2003; Revised April 2007, December 2010; Renumbered from CACI
No. VF-3015 and Revised December 2012, December 2016, May 2024
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
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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 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.
VF-3036-VF-3099. Reserved for Future Use
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