AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2015

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2015–2016 REGULAR SESSION

96

CHAPTER 115

Statutes of 2015

[ Approved by Governor July 16, 2015. Filed with Secretary of State July 16, 2015. ]

Introduced by Assembly Member Mark Stone

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Chiu)

January 7, 2015

An act to amend Section 231.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to jurors.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: no   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of an assumption that the prospective juror is biased merely because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or similar grounds.

This bill would also prohibit a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of ethnic group identification, age, genetic information, or disability.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 231.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:

231.5.

A party shall not use a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of an assumption that the prospective juror is biased merely because of a characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code, or similar grounds.