Juries: peremptory challenges.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the effective date of the bill.

Juries: Peremptory Challenges

This law extends the rules about using peremptory challenges in jury selection to civil cases involving civil rights violations and cases for civil commitment, while limiting when courts can look at how often lawyers have used such challenges against people from different groups.

What This Bill Does

• Extends the ban on using peremptory challenges based on race, ethnicity, or gender to certain types of civil cases, including those involving civil rights violations and cases for civil commitment.
• Requires parties bringing specific claims in these civil cases to inform the court and other involved parties about these rules.
• Limits when courts can consider how often lawyers have used peremptory challenges against people from different groups in past cases to situations where counsel or their office is a public entity.

Who It Names or Affects

• Lawyers and judges involved in civil cases that involve civil rights violations or civil commitment of individuals.
• People who are part of the jury selection process for these specific types of civil cases.

Terms To Know

Peremptory challenge

A right given to parties in a trial to remove potential jurors without giving a reason, within certain limits.

Civil rights violation

When someone’s legal rights are denied or interfered with because of their race, ethnicity, gender, etc.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not apply to all civil cases but only to specific types like those involving civil rights violations.
• It is unclear how courts will enforce these rules in practice.

Official Summary Text

SB 645, Umberg.
Juries: peremptory challenges.
Existing law provides for the exclusion of a prospective juror from a trial jury by peremptory challenge. Existing law prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of, among other things, the prospective juror’s race, ethnicity, or gender. Existing law allows a party, or the trial court on its own motion, to object to the use of a peremptory challenge based on these criteria. Upon objection, existing law requires the party exercising the challenge to state the reasons the peremptory challenge has been exercised. Existing law requires the court to evaluate the reasons given, as specified, and, if the court grants the objection, authorizes the court to take certain actions, including, but not limited to, starting a new jury selection, declaring a mistrial at the request of the objecting party, seating the challenged juror, or providing
another remedy as the court deems appropriate. Under existing law, one of the circumstances the court may consider includes whether the counsel or counsel’s office exercising the challenge has used peremptory challenges disproportionately against a given race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation, or perceived membership in any of these groups, in the present case or in past cases, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, prohibits the application of these provisions to civil cases.
This bill would extend the prohibition against application of these provisions to civil cases indefinitely, except as specified, including cases involving a civil rights violation and cases for the civil commitment of a person. The bill would require the
party bringing specified claims to notify the court and the other party or parties of the applicability of these provisions in those civil cases, as specified. The bill would limit the court’s consideration of counsel or counsel’s office use of peremptory challenges in the present case or in past cases, as described above, to when counsel or counsel’s office is a public entity.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF