Civil Rights & Liberties

Eliminates objections to adult name changes and grants petitions without hearings within six weeks. Mandates six-week, no-hearing minor name changes when all living parents sign. Establishes affidavit as conclusive proof of gender change for updating documents. Sets July 1, 2026 as the operative date and January 1, 2027 for repeal.

Expands confidentiality to petitioners in name and gender and sex change cases to protect privacy. Keeps court records, including the index, confidential before and after orders. Establishes private civil actions with minimum damages of $5,000 and possible punitive damages. Requires the Judicial Council to develop forms and rules by July 1, 2026.

Establishes that appeal stays are not automatic in CVRA and FAIR MAPS cases. Allows the Secretary of State to certify a stay to pause enforcement. Requires the violator to reimburse county elections officials for costs when no stay. Excludes actions started before January 1, 2026 from the new stay rules.

Extends peremptory-challenge protections to civil cases indefinitely. Requires notice to the court and parties when civil-rights related claims apply. Authorizes remedies such as starting jury selection over or declaring a mistrial. Limits court consideration to challenges by public entity counsel.

Establishes expanded data collection on employee ancestry for Black or African American groups. Applies to all local governments, with potential state-mandated program and cost reimbursement. Mandates implementation of new data categories starting January 1, 2027.

Requires agencies to collect and tabulate MEAN demographic data in separate categories. Applies to all cities and state agencies, excluding CSU and UC. Implements a phased timeline for MEAN data reporting and public access. Protects privacy by prohibiting PII disclosure and enabling aggregation.

Requires OES to develop a transnational repression training by January 2027. Establishes CSTI shall develop the training in consultation with POST. Requires six topics, including tactics, targeted communities, and federal guidance. Provides no funding or mandate; delivery format unknown; First Amendment rights preserved.

Establishes civil penalties for large platforms over algorithm-driven civil-rights violations. Imposes per-violation penalties up to $1M for intentional, $500k for reckless. Becomes operative January 1, 2027, with severability and void-waiver protections.

Expands pay data categories to 23 for private employers to broaden transparency. Requires separate storage of demographic data from personnel records. Discloses labor contractor ownership; civil penalties may be apportioned. Sunsets the current framework and reenacts with expanded categories in 2027.

Creates the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within the Civil Rights Department. Requires proof of descendant status as a qualifying criterion for benefits, with appeals. Ties genealogy certification to a future law by January 2026 and budget appropriation.

Establishes group or class complaints for pattern discrimination. Tolls civil-action deadlines during closure and appeals. Requires mandatory dispute resolution before civil actions and a 100-day filing window. Removes county-specific filing restrictions, allowing actions in any suitable California county.

Expands liability for digitized sexually explicit material and deepfake pornography. Adds claims for minor victims and for those who knowingly facilitate the acts. Presumes deepfake service owners knew lack of consent unless consent shown. Imposes a 30-day halt for providers after evidence and expands penalties.

Establishes new data collection duties for complaints by the Education Department and the Civil Rights Department. Requires annual deidentified summary reports online, PRA-aligned. Initiates Education data collection on July 1, 2026; summaries begin July 1, 2027. Initiates Civil Rights data collection on July 1, 2027; summaries by October 1 yearly.

Establishes a restitution pathway for racially motivated eminent domain. Creates a process in which CRD accepts applications, investigates, and issues determinations. Offers remedies including return of property, substitute property, or monetary compensation. Prioritizes titleholders and heirs; funding is by appropriation; allows in-house counsel.

Establishes a framework for device protection requests to cut abuser access. Requires account managers to act within two business days after a complete request. Allows civil penalties up to $2,500 per device for violations. Amends protective orders to cover internet-connected devices and requires 90-day data disposal.

Requires the Civil Rights Department to create anti-discrimination media campaigns, funded by appropriation. Establishes the start by the later of July 1, 2026 or one year after appropriation. Creates a working group to plan data-driven ad distribution using hate crime data. Exempts the working group from the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act; includes experts and legislators.

Extends the Commission's lifespan to January 1, 2031. Maintains a nine-member panel with Governor, Assembly Speaker, and Rules appointments. Requires four annual forums and an annual public report by July 1. Allows pursuing non-General Fund funding and per diem for appointed members.

Establishes age-neutral enforcement for forced marriages. Creates two-phase nullity framework with a sunset. Authorizes late petitions for force-based nullity upon good cause. Unifies civil and criminal age-neutral approach to forced marriage.

Expands protections to charter schools and county offices of education in youth athletics. Extends scope to include school and recreation facilities and resources supporting programs. Establishes a private civil action for injunctive relief or damages. Creates a state-mandated local program with reimbursement if costs are mandated.

Expands temporary restraining orders in divorce cases to prevent insurance policies from lapsing starting January 2027. Prohibits both parties from removing children from the state without written consent or court approval. Requires 5-day advance notice to the other party before making any extraordinary expenditures.

Extends filing deadline for decedent’s pain and suffering damages to Jan 1, 2027. Allows any party to submit required data to the Judicial Council. Extends reporting to cover damages from Jan 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, with a cover sheet. Delays the Judicial Council’s Legislature report deadline to Jan 1, 2027.

Requires small businesses to receive written notice of accessibility violations before facing statutory damages. Grants businesses with 50 or fewer employees 120 days to fix accessibility violations before legal action. Protects small businesses from statutory damages and attorney fees if violations are corrected within 120 days. Prevents plaintiffs from bypassing notice requirements by filing general ADA discrimination claims.

Establishes comprehensive regulations for automated decision systems that make consequential decisions affecting individuals. Requires developers to conduct impact assessments and annual audits of automated decision systems starting January 2027. Mandates that deployers provide clear disclosures to individuals before and after automated decisions are made. Authorizes civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation and enforcement by state agencies and local prosecutors.

Requires developers to assess high-risk AI systems for discrimination before deployment starting January 2026. Mandates companies notify individuals when AI systems are used in decisions affecting their rights or benefits. Establishes penalties up to $25,000 for AI systems that discriminate based on protected characteristics. Prohibits state agencies from contracting AI systems unless certified to comply with civil rights laws.

Establishes a Small Business Right to Cure Program protecting qualifying businesses from accessibility damages until 2034. Requires small businesses to obtain certified specialist inspections and post compliance notices to qualify for protection. Mandates commercial property owners to disclose accessibility inspection status in all lease agreements. Prohibits charging attorney fees to plaintiffs unless their accessibility claims are proven frivolous.