Criminal procedure: discrimination.

The bill text was reformatted from a paginated legislative document with line numbers into a web page layout. Web navigation elements (quick search, bill number, bill keyword, publications, other resources, my subscriptions, my favorites, track bill, add to my favorites, share this) were added as part of the website interface.

Line numbers, page headers (e.g., 'AB 1958 -2-'), and page footers present in the legislative document format were removed in the web rendering.

The RJA (Section 745) is now explicitly extended to cover plea negotiating practices, plea outcomes, diversion, and other alternative dispositions in adult court, as well as juvenile adjudications and transfer to adult court. Previously the statute's application to these stages was contested.

Legislative findings and declarations are added (new Section 1) documenting racial disparities in Three Strikes sentences, gang enhancements, death penalty sentencing, and barriers to proving RJA claims. The findings explicitly endorse a concurring opinion placing the burden on prosecutors to explain disparities between groups rather than individuals.

The comparison standard for disparity claims changes from comparing defendants 'convicted of the same offense' to comparing those who 'have engaged in similar conduct.' This allows a defendant charged with a more serious offense to compare themselves to others charged with lesser offenses for similar underlying behavior.

A new provision requires courts to grant a defendant's request for data previously disclosed under the RJA in another criminal case, unless the data has no relevance to the current charges. This creates a cross-case data sharing mechanism to reduce duplicative litigation.

The evidentiary burden on defendants is lowered: they are explicitly not required to conduct a statistical analysis or present both statistical and nonstatistical evidence. The prosecution must provide affirmative evidence of race-neutral factors (not merely theoretical ones) to rebut a proven disparity.

A new provision states that when a court finds an RJA violation, the defendant shall not be eligible for the death penalty.

New definitions are added for 'more frequently sought or obtained,' 'prima facie showing,' 'race-neutral factors,' 'racially discriminatory language,' 'state,' and 'similarly situated.' The 'similarly situated' definition notes that conviction history may be relevant but courts must consider evidence that it was impacted by racial profiling.

Retroactive application is expanded: as of January 1, 2026, the RJA applies to all cases regardless of when judgment became final (previously had a phased approach with different start dates for different categories of cases).

The original misdemeanor fine reduction (from $1,000 to $500) is retained but renumbered as Section 1 at the end of the bill, with the RJA amendments taking up Sections 1 and 2 of the new structure.