New law set to increase penalties for convicted corporations and increase victim assistance
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2432, which allows state courts to issue increased financial penalties on corporations convicted in criminal court, into law last week.
AB 2432 would also direct those new funds into programs that provide a wide variety of services to the victims of crime including free medical and mental health care, temporary housing, and courtroom advocacy.
According to a press release from the Ventura County District Attorney's Office which supported the bill, the federal Victims of Crime Act program is expected to see a 40 percent reduction from last year's $1.9 billion allocation.
In Ventura County, some grant programs will no longer be funded including ones for assisting farmworkers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and victims of human trafficking explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Those above programs total $280,000 annually.
"This bill is about fairness and justice — when major corporations break the law, they must be held accountable," explained Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel who authored the bill. "Funds collected through AB 2432 will help to compensate for the dwindling dollars going into the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding. VOCA, which had been a cornerstone of financial support for crime victim programs nationwide, is primarily funded through monetary penalties paid by federal offenders. These funds are distributed to states, which in turn allocate them to district attorney offices and non-profit organizations to benefit crime victims. A substantial decline in federal deposits has led to a significant reduction in available VOCA funds, posing a severe threat to these crucial services."
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office added that it is set to lose elder abuse grants that total $217,000 annually as well.
"We are facing an unprecedented shortfall in federal funding and can no longer count on VOCA to sustain and support California crime victims," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. "When there is deliberate concealment, fraud, injury, loss of life, misdeeds, and wrongdoing, we need to hold those corporations accountable. AB 2432 helps us accomplish that."
