Juror Challenges Gain Transparency Under Bill OK’d in California

California would strengthen jury selection procedures and increase transparency to ensure attorney challenges to exclude jurors are done for nondiscriminatory purposes under a measure approved by the Legislature and now headed to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The bill (A.B. 3070) is one of several the Legislature debated this session in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody.

The California District Attorneys Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association opposed the bill that requires judges to evaluate the reasons given to justify the peremptory challenge or the use of a challenge for cause. ...