Bill Text: CA AB242 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 242 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Courts: attorneys: implicit bias: training.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 418, Statutes of 2019. [AB242 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB242-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 242

Introduced by Assembly Member Kamlager-Dove

January 18, 2019

~~An act relating to implicit bias.~~ An act to amend Section 68088 of the Government Code, relating to courts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 242, as amended, Kamlager-Dove. ~~Implicit bias.~~ Courts: implicit bias: training.

Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to provide by rule of court for racial, ethnic, and gender bias, and sexual harassment training and training for any other bias based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation for judges, commissioners, and referees.
This bill would require the Judicial Council to develop training for all judges, commissioners, referees, clerks, bailiffs, and all attorneys appearing before a court, on implicit bias with respect to these characteristics. The bill would require these individuals to take 8 hours of mandatory training every 2 years.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status.
~~This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would address implicit bias in the judicial branch.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) All persons possess implicit biases, which are the positive or negative perceptions, feelings, and stereotypes that affect their beliefs, attitudes, and actions towards other people.
(2) Those biases develop during the course of a lifetime, beginning at an early age, through exposure to messages about groups of people that are socially advantaged or disadvantaged.
(3) In the United States, studies show that most people have an implicit bias that disfavors African Americans and favors Caucasian Americans, resulting from a long history of subjugations and exploitation of people of African descent.
(4) People also have negative biases toward members of other socially stigmatized groups, such as Native Americans, immigrants, women, the disabled, Muslims, and members of the LGBTQ community.
(5) Judges and lawyers harbor the same kinds of implicit biases as others. Studies have shown that Black men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, nearly 20 percent longer than sentences received by white men who commit the same crimes.
(6) Research shows individuals can reduce the negative impact of their implicit biases by becoming aware of the biases they hold and taking affirmative steps to alter behavioral responses to override biases.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ameliorate bias-based injustice in the courtroom.

SEC. 2.

Section 68088 of the Government Code is amended to read:

68088.

(a) The Judicial Council may provide by rule of court for racial, ethnic, and gender bias, and sexual harassment training and training for any other bias based on any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 for judges, commissioners, and referees.

(b) (1) The Judicial Council shall develop training for all judges, commissioners, referees, clerks, bailiffs, and all attorneys appearing before a court, on implicit bias with respect to the characteristics listed or defined in Section 11135. The course shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The difference between implicit bias and explicit bias and how these aspects of bias relate to each other.
(B) The terminology used to identify and describe implicit bias.
(C) How to create an inclusive workplace within the court that counteracts implicit bias.
(D) Important moments in history related to implicit bias and the courts.
(E) The taking of an implicit-association test to test implicit bias relating to the characteristics listed or defined in Section 11135.
(2) All judges, commissioners, referees, clerks, bailiffs, and all attorneys appearing before a court, shall complete eight hours of mandatory training pursuant to this subdivision every two years. Training shall include implicit association testing before and after the training, the results of which are for self-understanding only and shall be disclosed only to the person taking the test.

SECTION 1.
~~It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would address implicit bias in the judicial branch.~~