Bill > SB645

This bill amends existing California law regarding peremptory challenges in jury selection, which are strikes that attorneys can use to remove potential jurors without providing a specific reason. The bill extends and expands protections against discriminatory jury selection by making permanent previous temporary provisions that prohibit removing jurors based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation. Importantly, the bill limits consideration of an attorney's past peremptory challenge history to cases where the represented party is a public entity. The legislation also creates specific detailed standards for evaluating potential discriminatory challenges, including examining the questions asked of jurors, the reasons given for strikes, and whether certain rationales might be disproportionately associated with a specific group. The bill adds nuanced protections by presumptively invalidating certain types of peremptory challenges, such as strikes based on a juror's neighborhood, language abilities, or employment, unless the challenging party can provide clear and convincing evidence that the reason is unrelated to group membership. Additionally, the bill specifies that these enhanced jury selection protections will apply to specific types of civil cases, including civil rights violations, hate crime cases, and dependency cases, while maintaining some limitations on broader civil litigation.

Budget and Finance, Justice

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB645