Generally, civil rights crime, commonly termed "hate crime," is "any unlawful action against the person or property of another, committed because of the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation." The details of such crimes are specified in a number of California statutes that not only pertain to bias-related violence but also to bias-related vandalism and threats. When dealing with a possible hate crime, investigators must make a two-step analysis. First, the investigator must determine whether a crime was committed. In many cases this involves distinguishing between an "incident," in which a person engages in hateful speech protected by the First Amendment, and a crime that consists of a bias-motivated threat. If the investigator concludes that a crime was committed, then the next question is whether it was bias-motivated. Even though the investigator may determine that no crime was committed, any bias-motivated incidents should be documented by investigators, since such information may be relevant to any future actions by the involved person that may constitute hate crimes. Civil remedies for injurious, bias-motivated behavior are also briefly described. Hypothetical scenarios distinguish between constitutionally protected hateful free speech and spoken or written threats that constitute hate crimes under California law.