§ 68088

351 words·~2 min read·/ca/government-code/68088

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)The Judicial Council may provide by rule of court for racial, ethnic, and gender bias, and sexual harassment training and training for any other bias based on any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 for judges and subordinate judicial officers. In developing any training on gender bias pursuant to this section, the Judicial Council shall consider the role of gender in court proceedings, including strategies to counter stereotypes, taking into account inequities in power and their intersection with gender, and meeting the needs of litigants in unique situations of vulnerability.

(1)The Judicial Council may also develop training on implicit bias with respect to the characteristics listed or defined in Section 11135. The course shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A)A survey of the social science on implicit bias, unconscious bias, and systemic implicit bias, including the ways that bias affects institutional policies and practices.

(B)A discussion of the historical reasons for, and the present consequences of, the implicit biases that people hold based on the characteristics listed in Section 11135.

(C)Examples of how implicit bias affects the perceptions, judgments, and actions of judges, subordinate judicial officers, and other court staff, and how those perceptions, judgments, and actions result in unacceptable disparities in access to justice.

(D)The administration of implicit association tests to increase awareness of one’s unconscious biases based on the characteristics listed in Section 11135.

(E)Strategies for how to reduce the impact of implicit bias on parties before the court, members of the public, and court staff.

(F)Inquiry into how judges and subordinate judicial officers can counteract the effects of juror implicit bias on the outcome of cases.

(2)As of January 1, 2022, all court staff who are required, as part of their regular job duties, to interact with the public on matters before the court, shall complete two hours of any training program developed by the Judicial Council pursuant to this subdivision every two years.

(3)The Judicial Council may adopt a rule of court, effective January 1, 2021, to implement this subdivision.