California Assembly Bill 256
Session 20212022
Criminal procedure: discrimination.
Became Law
Became Law on Sep 29, 2022
Sponsors
4 Sponsors
Ash Kalra
Sydney Kamlager
Robert Rivas
Miguel Santiago
First Action
Jan 14, 2021
Latest Action
Sep 29, 2022
Origin Chamber
Assembly
Type
Bill
Bill Number
256
State
California
Session
20212022
Ash Kalra
grade
Author
Miguel Santiago
grade
Author
Robert Rivas
grade
Author
Sydney Kamlager
grade
Author
Coauthor
Gonzalez
Principal Coauthor
Haney
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Principal Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Principal Coauthor
Coauthor
Coauthor
Motion Text
AB 256 Kalra Concurrence in Senate Amendments
Assembly Roll Call Votes
Other
Yes
Other
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Other
Yes
Other
Haney
Yes
Yes
Other
Other
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mike Fong
Yes
Yes
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Summary
Existing law prohibits the state from seeking a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified, and, in a case in which judgment has not been entered prior to January 1, 2021, allows a petition to be filed alleging a violation of that prohibition. Existing law authorizes a court that finds a violation of that prohibition to impose specified remedies, including, among other things, vacating the conviction or sentence and ordering new proceedings.
This bill would additionally authorize that petition to be filed for cases in which a judgment was entered as final prior to January 1, 2021, as specified, and in cases in which a juvenile disposition resulted in a commitment to the Division of Juvenile Justice, as specified. The bill would, if a motion under these provisions is based on the conduct or statements by the judge, require the judge to disqualify themselves from those proceedings. The bill would additionally make other technical changes.
Existing law allows a defendant to file a motion requesting disclosure of all evidence related to a potential violation of the prohibition on seeking a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin, and requires the court to order the records to be released upon a showing of good cause. If the records are not privileged, existing law allows the court to permit the prosecution to redact information prior to disclosure.
This bill would require the court, upon a showing of good cause, to order disclosure unless a statutory privilege or constitutional privacy right cannot be adequately protected by redaction or a protective order.
Under existing law, a conviction or sentence is unlawfully imposed on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin if the defendant proves, among other things, that the defendant was charged or convicted of a more serious offense than defendants of other races, ethnicities, or national origins, or received a longer or more severe sentence, and the evidence establishes that the prosecution more frequently sought or obtained convictions for more serious offenses against people who share the defendant's race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified, or if a longer or more severe sentence was more frequently imposed on defendants of a particular race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified. Existing law requires this determination to be made pursuant to statistical evidence or aggregate data, as specified.
This bill would allow that evidence to include nonstatistical evidence and would require the court to consider the totality of the evidence in determining whether a significant difference in seeking or obtaining convictions or in imposing sentences has been established. The bill would require the court to consider whether systemic and institutional racial bias, racial profiling, and historical patterns of racially biased policing and prosecution may have contributed to, or caused differences observed in, the data or impacted the availability of data overall.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1473 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 467 to be operative only if this bill and SB 467 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
01/14/21 - Introduced
January 14, 2021
03/16/21 - Amended Assembly
March 16, 2021
05/24/21 - Amended Assembly
May 24, 2021
08/11/22 - Amended Senate
August 11, 2022
08/24/22 - Amended Senate
August 24, 2022
09/02/22 - Enrolled
September 2, 2022
09/29/22 - Chaptered
September 29, 2022
03/22/21- Assembly Public Safety
March 22, 2021
04/12/21- Assembly Appropriations
April 12, 2021
05/25/21- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS
May 25, 2021
06/27/21- Senate Public Safety
June 27, 2021
07/13/21- Senate Appropriations
July 13, 2021
08/11/22- Senate Appropriations
August 11, 2022
08/15/22- Sen. Floor Analyses
August 15, 2022
08/26/22- Sen. Floor Analyses
August 26, 2022
08/30/22- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS
August 30, 2022
Sort by most recent
09/29/2022
California State Legislature
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 739, Statutes of 2022.
09/29/2022
California State Legislature
Approved by the Governor.
09/13/2022
California State Legislature
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
08/31/2022
Assembly
Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 46. Noes 25.).
08/30/2022
Assembly
From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 30).
08/30/2022
Assembly
Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended.
08/30/2022
Assembly
Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.
08/29/2022
Assembly
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
08/29/2022
Senate
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 10. Page 5207.).
08/25/2022
Senate
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
08/24/2022
Senate
Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
08/15/2022
Senate
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
08/11/2022
Senate
Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
08/11/2022
Senate
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 11).
08/26/2021
Senate
In committee: Held under submission.
07/15/2021
Senate
In committee: Referred to suspense file.
06/30/2021
Senate
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 1720.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
06/09/2021
Senate
Referred to Com. on PUB. S.
06/02/2021
Senate
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
06/01/2021
Assembly
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 45. Noes 21. Page 1752.)
05/25/2021
Assembly
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
05/24/2021
Assembly
Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
05/20/2021
Assembly
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 20).
04/14/2021
Assembly
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
03/24/2021
Assembly
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (March 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
03/17/2021
Assembly
Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
03/16/2021
Assembly
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.
01/28/2021
Assembly
Referred to Com. on PUB. S.
01/15/2021
Assembly
From printer. May be heard in committee February 14.
01/14/2021
Assembly
Read first time. To print.
Sources
Record Created
Jan 15, 2021 6:02:27 AM
Record Updated
Nov 30, 2022 6:24:57 PM