Sen. Eggman proposes state law to add jail time for school, church attacks
Stockton State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman has introduced a bill to tack on additional prison time for various violent crimes committed in schools and places of worship.
Stockton State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman has introduced a bill to tack on additional prison time for various violent crimes committed in schools and places of worship.
The bill, SB699, would create two sentencing enhancements for several felonies committed or attempted on school properties or at churches, mosques, synagogues and the like.
“Schools and houses of worship are foundational building blocks of our communities and should be safe spaces for all those who use their services,” Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, said in a news release Thursday.
The bill would tack on an additional two, three, or four years in prison for manslaughter, mayhem, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking and rape, among other crimes. It would also add a 10-year enhancement for murder at a school or house of worship.
Billed named after slain Stagg student
The bill is dubbed the Alycia “LaLa” Reynaga Act after the 15-year-old victim of a deadly stabbing attack on Stockton’s Stagg High School campus.
Reynaga died after 52-year-old Anthony Gray allegedly drove to the school on April 18, got out of his vehicle and began stabbing her with a knife.
Soon after, San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar contacted Eggman about introducing new legislation to add additional prison time for such attacks, said spokesperson Elisa Bubak.
“Heinous acts of violence on school campuses and places of worship deserve additional consequences,” Salazar said. “SB 699 is one way California can lead the nation in reform, protecting those seeking an education and those who wish to participate in religious gatherings.”
The bill is actually a June 1 amendment to an existing piece of legislation from Eggman, also called SB699, that was stalled in the state Senate’s Education Committee.
The new version completely replaces the language from the old bill and could get a hearing in the Assembly sometime this month.
SB699 is also sponsored by Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, D-Stockton and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach.
