Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Page 3
Gov. Brown Signs Bill Mandating Anti-Bias Training For State Bar JNE Commissioners
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation mandating anti-discrimination training for members of the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation.
Under AB 126, which was signed into law on Sunday and takes effect Jan. 1, members of the commission must take at least an hour of training, and any member serving a second term must take a second hour.
As originally passed by the Assembly, the bill would also have required the governor to disclose the names of all persons outside his administration whom he has consulted with respect to potential judicial appointments. That provision was scrapped in the Senate amid opposition from the Brown administration, which defended the use of confidentiality as a means of protecting members of advisory committees from being lobbied.
Ironically, news reports have identified numerous members of Brown’s “secret” committees.
Other bills signed by Brown on Sunday included:
•AB 433, by Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, which will eliminate the procedure allowing objections in superior court to a petition to issue a new birth certificate to a person who has undergone sex change surgery.
•AB 622 by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, which will allow a witness testifying before a civil grand jury to have counsel present while testifying.
•AB 973, by Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, which will require that every trial court hold a public hearing prior to submitting its annual budget request to the Judicial Council.
•SB 182, by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, which will require the governor to collect and release data on the sexual orientation and gender identity of judicial applicants, in addition to the data on race and gender that must be released under current law.
•SB 405, by Corbett, which will create up to 10 new judgeships during the 2011-12 fiscal year in order to convert subordinate judicial officer positions in family law or juvenile law only. This would be in addition to the 16 annual conversions already authorized for the superior courts generally.
•SB 651, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, which will eliminate the “common residence” requirement for domestic partnerships and will allow same-sex marriages to be dissolved in California, regardless of the parties’ state of residence, if the marriage was entered into here, and no other state will dissolve it.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company