It also went against "California values," Gabriel said, which is why he decided to introduce the new measure.

"The purpose of the bill is to ensure an outcome based on morality and justice, and not legal technicalities," he said.

If the new bill passes, it would make clear that, in scenarios involving property looted or stolen by the Nazis or as a result of political persecution, California law dictates that the property be returned, Gabriel said.

The law would apply in any legal case considering such issues in which the ultimate decision is not yet final, up to and including those on appeal before the Supreme Court.

If passed and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the bill probably would take effect Jan. 1, Gabriel said. It also could be expedited, but that hasn't been considered yet.

The timeline for the Cassirer case is unclear. It currently remains before the 9th Circuit, where Cassirer has asked for the January decision to be reconsidered by a larger, 11-judge en banc panel. After a decision is made there, the parties could potentially appeal to the Supreme Court, as well.

Sam Dubbin, a longtime attorney for the Cassirer family, praised Gabriel's effort to update California's law.

"The clarity of Assemblyman Gabriel's legislation is necessary to change the current dynamic in which governments, museums, and collectors are incentivized to resist restitution and employ tactics and arguments that trivialize the Holocaust," Dubbin said. "It is essential for truth, history, and justice in the Cassirer case, and for future cases as well."

Gabriel said he already has co-sponsors from both ends of the political spectrum — including assemblymembers Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) and Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) — and is optimistic that the bill will have widespread support.

Also backing the measure are Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), who is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, also a Democrat, who cited her time as U.S. ambassador to Hungary — where hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed — as strongly informing her support.

"The decades-long effort to return confiscated property to Jewish families is morally courageous," Kounalakis said in a statement to The Times.

Gabriel said it was "appalling" to him that Spain's government won't voluntarily return the painting to Cassirer.

"This isn't about money," he said. "It's about morality and justice."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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