Governor signs law allowing felons on juries

In recent years, California’s voters have made numerous historic changes to the nation’s largest criminal justice system. But in 2019, most of the action has been in the Legislature.

Those efforts came to fruition on Tuesday night when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he signed two dozen bills changing various aspects of the penal system. These included two closely-watched measures: SB 36, designed to improve transparency and accountability of pretrial assessment tools, and SB 310, which will allow former felons to serve on juries.

More than 20 other states already allow former felons on juries. SB 310’s author, Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, positioned her bill as a response to what she said was a lack of racial balance.

“It’s easy to take for granted the notion of a jury of your peers, but in reality, if you’re black and a man, it’s almost impossible,” Skinner said in a press release. “Why? Existing law excludes 30% of California’s black male residents from ever serving on a jury,” she said, referring to felons who were not allowed to vote.

Racial disparities were also front and center in debates over SB 36. The bill is a kind of companion to SB 10, a law phasing out cash bail passed last year and written by the same author, Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys. SB 10 is currently on hold pending a November 2020 referendum funded by the bail industry.

The coalition supporting SB 10 splintered last fall over the issue of pretrial assessment. Groups including the ACLU of California dropped their support, stating the pretrial assessment tools that would replace bail also have the potential to harm low-income and minority defendants.

“We are proud to support efforts to end money bail, but know that replacing it with a process that uses algorithms to determine whether a person is eligible for pre-trial release leaves the system vulnerable to racism, classism and ableism,” said Jessica Bartholow of the Western Center on Law and Poverty, a bill supporter, in a press release from Hertzberg’s office.

Supporters of SB 36 have said even if SB 10 is rejected by voters, the law could improve the fairness of pretrial assessment tools already in use across the state.

Newsom also signed measures dealing with sentencing, younger criminals and data collection. Some of the more talked about bills include AB 1215, barring the use of facial recognition technology in police body cameras; AB 45, barring prisons and jails from charging inmates co-pays for medical visits; and bills reducing certain sentence enhancements and mandatory minimums.

Newsom also signed several bills relating to elections. One addresses the #MeToo crisis that has rocked the Capitol over the past two years.

SB 71 will bar politicians from using campaign funds to defend themselves from sexual harassment or assault allegations “in any civil, criminal or administrative proceeding.” The bill was in part a response to an attempt by former Sen. Tony Mendoza, a Democrat from Buena Park, to seek permission from the Fair Political Practices Commission to use campaign donations as he defended himself from sexual harassment allegations.

The commission initially issued an advice letter stating it would be proper for Mendoza to use the funds but later withdrew it.