Juries: peremptory challenges.

Senator Umberg's proposal to modify California's jury selection procedures would permanently extend existing protections against discriminatory peremptory challenges in civil cases, while narrowing courts' consideration of historical challenge patterns to cases involving public entities. The legislation maintains current prohibitions on excluding jurors based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation.

The bill specifies application to particular civil matters, including civil rights violations, hate crime damages, dependency cases, and civil commitments of sexually violent predators. When evaluating peremptory challenges in these cases, courts must assess stated reasons within the totality of circumstances, without speculation about unstated justifications. The legislation preserves existing remedial options when improper challenges are identified, such as starting jury selection anew or seating the challenged juror.

For cases involving public entities, courts retain authority to examine whether counsel has demonstrated patterns of disproportionate challenges against protected groups in current or past proceedings. The bill establishes that denied objections undergo de novo appellate review, with trial courts' explicit factual findings evaluated for substantial evidence. This maintains scrutiny of jury selection practices while focusing enhanced oversight on government actors.