AB 2159, Gonzalez. Evidence: immigration status.
Existing law provides that all relevant evidence is admissible in an action before the court, including evidence relevant to the credibility of a witness or hearsay declarant, subject to specified exceptions.
This bill would provide that, in civil actions for personal injury or wrongful death, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible and discovery of a person’s immigration status is not permitted. The bill would also provide that these restrictions do not affect the standards of relevance, admissibility, or discovery under other specified provisions of law.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 351.2 is added to the Evidence Code, to read:
(a) In a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, evidence of a person’s immigration status shall not be admitted into evidence, nor shall discovery into a person’s immigration status be permitted.
(b) This section does not affect the standards of relevance, admissibility, or discovery prescribed by Section 3339 of the Civil Code, Section 7285 of the Government Code, Section 24000 of the Health and Safety Code, and Section 1171.5 of the Labor Code.
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