SECTIONS 8310-8317 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 8310-8317

8310. The inclusion of any question relative to an applicant's
race, sex, marital status, or religion in any application blank or
form required to be filled in and submitted by an applicant to any
department, board, commission, officer, agent, or employee of this
state is prohibited.
Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, subsequent to
employment, gender and marital status data may be obtained and
maintained for research and statistical purposes when safeguards
preventing misuse of the information exist, as approved by the State
Fair Employment Practice Commission, except that in no event shall
any notation, entry, or record of such data be made on papers or
records relating to such employment application.

8310.5. Any state agency, board, or commission which directly or by
contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic
origin of Californians shall use separate collection categories and
tabulations for each major Asian and Pacific Islander group,
including, but not limited to, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean,
Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Laotian, and
Cambodian.

8311. Wherever any notice or other communication is required by any
law to be mailed by registered mail to or by the state, or any
officer or agency thereof, the mailing of such notice or other
communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient
compliance with the requirements of such law.

8312. No officer or employee of the state or any county, city and
county, city, or district who is concerned with the organization or
supervision of any discussion or social meeting of aged, blind, or
disabled persons shall, in his official capacity, prevent or attempt
to prevent any discussion at such meeting of legislation of interest
to such persons.

8313. No officer or employee of the state or any county, city and
county, city, or district who is concerned with the administration of
any program for the aged, blind, or disabled shall, in his official
capacity, attempt to coerce or coerce any aged, blind, or disabled
person to join or refrain from joining any organization of the aged,
blind, or disabled.

8314. (a) It is unlawful for any elected state or local officer,
including any state or local appointee, employee, or consultant, to
use or permit others to use public resources for a campaign activity,
or personal or other purposes which are not authorized by law.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Personal purpose" means those activities the purpose of which
is for personal enjoyment, private gain or advantage, or an outside
endeavor not related to state business. "Personal purpose" does not
include the incidental and minimal use of public resources, such as
equipment or office space, for personal purposes, including an
occasional telephone call.
(2) "Campaign activity" means an activity constituting a
contribution as defined in Section 82015 or an expenditure as defined
in Section 82025. "Campaign activity" does not include the
incidental and minimal use of public resources, such as equipment or
office space, for campaign purposes, including the referral of
unsolicited political mail, telephone calls, and visitors to private
political entities.
(3) "Public resources" means any property or asset owned by the
state or any local agency, including, but not limited to, land,
buildings, facilities, funds, equipment, supplies, telephones,
computers, vehicles, travel, and state-compensated time.
(4) "Use" means a use of public resources which is substantial
enough to result in a gain or advantage to the user or a loss to the
state or any local agency for which a monetary value may be
estimated.
(c) (1) Any person who intentionally or negligently violates this
section is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand
dollars ($1,000) for each day on which a violation occurs, plus three
times the value of the unlawful use of public resources. The penalty
shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the
name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General
or by any district attorney or any city attorney of a city having a
population in excess of 750,000. If two or more persons are
responsible for any violation, they shall be jointly and severally
liable for the penalty.
(2) If the action is brought by the Attorney General, the moneys
recovered shall be paid into the General Fund. If the action is
brought by a district attorney, the moneys recovered shall be paid to
the treasurer of the county in which the judgment was entered. If
the action is brought by a city attorney, the moneys recovered shall
be paid to the treasurer of that city.
(3) No civil action alleging a violation of this section may be
commenced more than four years after the date the alleged violation
occurred.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of public
resources for providing information to the public about the possible
effects of any bond issue or other ballot measure on state
activities, operations, or policies, provided that (1) the
informational activities are otherwise authorized by the constitution
or laws of this state, and (2) the information provided constitutes
a fair and impartial presentation of relevant facts to aid the
electorate in reaching an informed judgment regarding the bond issue
or ballot measure.
(e) The incidental and minimal use of public resources by an
elected state or local officer, including any state or local
appointee, employee, or consultant, pursuant to this section shall
not be subject to prosecution under Section 424 of the Penal Code.

8314.5. (a) In furtherance of Section 8314 and except as provided
in subdivision (b), it shall be unlawful for any elected state or
local officer, including any state or local appointee, employee, or
consultant, to knowingly use a state-owned or state-leased computer
to access, view, download, or otherwise obtain obscene matter.
(b) This section does not apply to accessing, viewing,
downloading, or otherwise obtaining obscene matter for use consistent
with legitimate law enforcement purposes, to permit a state agency
to conduct an administrative disciplinary investigation, or for
legitimate medical, scientific, academic, or legislative purposes, or
for other legitimate state purposes.
(c) "Obscene matter" as used in this section has the meaning
specified in Section 311 of the Penal Code.
(d) "State-owned or state-leased computer" means a computer owned
or leased by one of the following:
(1) A state agency, as defined by Section 11000, including the
California State University.
(2) The University of California.
(3) The Legislature.
(e) This section shall not apply to the University of California
unless and until the Regents of the University of California act, by
resolution, to make it applicable.

8315. (a) "Racial discrimination" or "discrimination on the basis
of race" for the purposes of Section 31 of Article I of the
California Constitution shall have the same meaning as the term
"racial discrimination" as defined and used in paragraphs 1 and 4 of
Article 1 of Part I of the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly on December 21, 1965, signed on
behalf of the United States on September 28, 1966, and ratified by
the United States Senate as Treaty Number 95-18 by United States
Senate on June 24, 1994. The language contained in the pertinent
provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination is set forth in subdivision (b).
(b) The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, provides in paragraphs 1 and 4 of Article 1
of Part I, respectively, as follows:

"1. In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination' shall
mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on
race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the
purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition,
enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or
any other field of public life."
"4. Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing
adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or
individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to
ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of
human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial
discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a
consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different
racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the
objectives for which they were taken have been achieved."

(c) To allow the state to assist the United States Government in
fulfilling its international obligation to pursue a policy to
eliminate all forms of racial discrimination pursuant to paragraph 1
of Article 2 of Part I of the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as set forth in
subdivision (d), the following provisions shall be used to interpret
and implement Section 31 of Article I of the California Constitution:
(1) Section 31 of Article I of the California Constitution, except
as to its prohibition of granting preferential treatment, shall not
be interpreted as granting an individual a private cause of action to
challenge any special measures undertaken for the purpose of
securing adequate advancement of those racial groups requiring the
protection pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Part I of the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination. Special measures shall not be interpreted as
preferential treatment.
(2) Section 31 of Article I of the California Constitution shall
not be construed as requiring the government to prove racial
discrimination before undertaking special measures for the purpose of
securing adequate advancement of those racial minority groups
needing that protection pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Part
I of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination.
(d) Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Part I of the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
provides as follows:

"1. States Parties (member nations that have adopted the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination) condemn racial discrimination to pursue by all
appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating racial
discrimination in all its forms and promoting the understanding among
all races, and to this end:
"(a) Each State Party undertakes to engage in no act or practice
of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or
institutions and to ensure that all public authorities and public
institutions, national and local, shall act in conformity with this
obligation.
"(b) Each State Party undertakes not to sponsor, defend or support
racial discrimination by any persons or organizations.
"(c) Each State Party shall take effective measures to review
governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or
nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or
perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists.
"(d) Each State Party shall prohibit and bring to an end, by all
appropriate means, including legislation as required by
circumstances, racial discrimination by any persons, group or
organization.
"(e) Each State Party undertakes to encourage, where appropriate,
integrationist multiracial organizations and movements and other
means of eliminating barriers between races, and to discourage
anything which tends to strengthen racial division."

8317. (a) Each state agency, as defined in subdivision (b), shall
establish and maintain an index of the names or titles of all fees,
license fees, fines, and penalties administered or collected by the
agency.
(b) "State agency" for the purposes of this section means every
state office, department, division, bureau, board, and commission,
but shall not include the Legislature or any entity provided for
under Article VI of the California Constitution.
(c) This section does not apply to any fee collected by a state
agency from any other governmental agency.