Courts: judicial appointments.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to fill judicial office vacancies by appointment and to nominate candidates for election to the California Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal, as specified. Existing law requires the Governor to submit to a designated agency of the State Bar of California the names of all potential appointees or nominees for judicial office for evaluation of their judicial qualifications. Existing law provides that the membership of the designated agency shall consist of attorney members and public members, and be broadly representative of the ethnic, gender, and racial diversity of the population of California, as specified. Existing law also requires, on or before March 1 of each year, the Governor, the designated agency, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to collect and release specified demographic data relative to the ethnicity, race, and gender of judicial applicants or judges, as specified. This bill would require each member of the designated agency of the State Bar responsible for evaluation of judicial candidates to complete a minimum of 60 minutes of training in the areas of fairness and bias in the judicial appointments process at an orientation for new members, and an additional 60 minutes of that training during his or her service on that agency if the member serves more than one term. The bill would revise the provision requiring the Governor, the designated agency, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to collect and release specified demographic data annually, as described above, to specifically require that the information be for the prior calendar year. The bill would also require, with respect to the collection and release of demographic data, the State Bar and the Administrative Office of the Courts to use specified ethnic and racial categories, as those categories are defined by the United States Census Bureau for the 2010 Census for reporting purposes. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 12011.5 of the Government Code proposed in SB 182, that would become operative only if SB 182 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.