Penal Code section 594.3

(a)

Any person who knowingly commits any act of vandalism to a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, building owned and occupied by a religious educational institution, or other place primarily used as a place of worship where religious services are regularly conducted or a cemetery is guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not exceeding one year or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(b)

Any person who knowingly commits any act of vandalism to a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, building owned and occupied by a religious educational institution, or other place primarily used as a place of worship where religious services are regularly conducted or a cemetery, which is shown to have been a hate crime and to have been committed for the purpose of intimidating and deterring persons from freely exercising their religious beliefs, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(c)

For purposes of this section, “hate crime” has the same meaning as Section 422.55.

Source: Section 594.3, https://leginfo.­legislature.­ca.­gov/faces/codes_displaySection.­xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=594.­3.­ (updated Apr. 4, 2011; accessed Jun. 9, 2025).

Last Updated

Apr. 4, 2011

§ 594.3’s source at ca​.gov