Tom Umberg
- Democratic
- Senator
- District 34
Author
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.
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 656, Statutes of 2025.
Approved by the Governor.
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2987.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3275.) Ordered to the Senate.
Read third time and amended.
Ordered to third reading.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 29).
August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1494.) Ordered to the Assembly.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Ordered to second reading.
Read third time and amended.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.
Set for hearing May 19.
May 12 hearing postponed by committee.
Set for hearing May 12.
April 21 hearing postponed by committee.
Set for hearing April 21.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 706.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Set for hearing April 8.
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
| Bill Text Versions | Format |
|---|---|
| SB645 | HTML |
| 02/20/25 - Introduced | |
| 05/29/25 - Amended Senate | |
| 07/03/25 - Amended Assembly | |
| 09/04/25 - Amended Assembly | |
| 09/18/25 - Enrolled | |
| 10/11/25 - Chaptered |
| Document | Format |
|---|---|
| 04/04/25- Senate Judiciary | |
| 05/20/25- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 06/02/25- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 07/03/25- Assembly Judiciary | |
| 08/18/25- Assembly Appropriations | |
| 09/02/25- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 09/05/25- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 09/11/25- Sen. Floor Analyses |
Data on Open States is updated periodically throughout the day from the official website of the California State Legislature.
If you notice any inconsistencies with these official sources, feel free to file an issue.