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Legislative record

AB 1958STATE · CaliforniaIntroduced

Criminal procedure: discrimination.

Voted 5/28/2026View source

Summary

Existing law prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified. Existing law allows a defendant to establish a violation of these provisions under specified circumstances, including when a longer or more severe sentence was imposed on the defendant than was imposed on other similarly situated individuals convicted of the same offense and other specified conditions are met. This bill would instead compare the defendant to similarly situated individuals who have engaged in similar conduct, as specified. The bill would make these provisions apply to disparities in plea negotiating and diversion, among other things. Existing law authorizes a defendant in these cases to file a motion requesting disclosure to the defense of all evidence relevant to a potential violation of these provisions, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize a defendant to request any data that has been previously disclosed pursuant to those provisions in another criminal case, and require the court to grant that request, unless the data has no relevance to the current charges. The bill would also revise and recast definitions for these provisions.

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Bill text

The full text of this bill isn't on Heard yet. The official documents are linked below.

Roll-call record

How representatives voted

33 yea·21 nay

Docket history

Action history

  1. 5/28/2026Read third time. Refused passage. (Ayes 33. Noes 22. Page 5545.).
  2. 5/18/2026Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
  3. 5/14/2026From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 10. Noes 4.) (May 14).
  4. 4/29/2026In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
  5. 4/8/2026From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
  6. 3/26/2026Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
  7. 3/25/2026From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.
  8. 3/17/2026Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
  9. 3/16/2026From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.
  10. 3/2/2026Referred to Com. on PUB. S.