BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 126
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 126 (Davis)
As Amended August 25, 2011
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |48-27|(May 23, 2011) |SENATE: |24-12|(August 30, |
| | | | | |2011) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Requires each member of the State Bar's Commission on
Judicial Nominees Evaluation to complete fairness and anti-bias
training and clarifies existing requirements for collection of
demographic data of judicial applicants. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires that each new member of the designated agency of the
California State Bar (State Bar) responsible for evaluation of
judicial candidates complete a minimum of 60 minutes of
mandatory training in the areas of fairness and bias in the
judicial appointments process. If the member serves more than
one term, the member shall complete an additional 60 minutes
of that training during the member's service.
2)Clarifies existing requirements imposed on the Governor, the
State Bar, and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
for collecting annual demographic data, including a
requirement that, with respect to the collection and release
of demographic data, the State Bar and the AOC use the ethnic
and racial categories designated and used by the United States
Census Bureau for the 2010 Census, and each year thereafter
for reporting purposes.
3)Encourages members of judicial selection advisory committees
to recommend candidates from diverse backgrounds and cultures
reflecting the California's demographics.
The Senate amendments significantly narrow the bill by deleting
the requirement that the Governor release the names of
participants involved in the judicial selection process.
Additionally, the amendments change the minimal time members are
required to complete for mandatory training and add language to
AB 126
Page 2
resolve chaptering issues with SB 182 (Corbett).
EXISTING LAW requires that on or before March 1 of each year,
all of the following shall occur: 1) the Governor shall
disclose aggregate statewide demographic data provided by all
judicial applicants relative to ethnicity and gender; 2) the
designated agency of the State Bar responsible for evaluating
judicial candidates shall collect and release statewide
demographic data provided by judicial applicants reviewed and a
statewide summary of the recommendations of the designated
agency by ethnicity and gender; and, 3) the AOC shall collect
and release the demographic data provided by justices and judges
relative to ethnicity and gender by specific jurisdiction.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
than the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : In recent years there has been increased attention by
the Legislature on the continuing need to develop new efforts to
address the continuing lack of sufficient diversity in the
state's judiciary. For example, when considering the merits of
prior legislation seeking to authorize 50 new judgeships, former
Speaker Fabian N��ez insisted that before more judgeships would
be authorized, new mechanisms would need to be adopted to help
address the lack of ethnic and gender diversity within the
judicial branch. As part of these efforts, unprecedented new
diversity reporting requirements were imposed to begin the
challenging process of addressing this problem. The State Bar,
the Governor's office, and the Judicial Council were all
required to prepare and issue reports on the diversity of the
judicial applicant pool and of the existing judiciary. Reports
by these three entities over the past several years demonstrate
some progress has been made on the diversity front.
Unfortunately, with the long history of inadequately diverse
appointments, it has meant that even after a bit more diverse
appointments in recent years, much more work remains to be done.
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
AB 126
Page 3
FN:
0002422