Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed into law AB 241 and AB 242, bills requiring implicit bias training for judges, attorneys, court personnel, and healthcare professionals. The new laws make California the first state in the nation to require implicit bias training for these positions in the state judiciary and healthcare system.
In collaboration with the Equal Justice Society, Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB 241 and AB 242 as part of a bills package designed to help reduce disparities in health care, the justice system and law enforcement.
Yoana Tchoukleva, EJS Judge Motley Civil Rights Fellow, and Lisa Holder, Of Counsel to EJS, were instrumental in drafting bill language, providing amendments, testifying at hearings, and garnering support for the bills.
EJS has been laying the groundwork for this legislation for decades by educating the public on the underlying mind science and by affording institutions tools for managing bias at the individual, interpersonal and institutional levels.
EJS is deeply grateful to Gov. Newsom for signing the bills and especially to Assemblywoman Kamlager-Dove for her leadership in authoring these groundbreaking bills and for inviting our input in shaping them. EJS also thanks Assemblymembers Bonta, Gonzalez, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, McCarty, Levine, Weber, Wicks, as well as Senators Mitchell, Skinner, Wiener, for their co-authorship, and Kimberly Papillon and Demarris Evans for their thought-partnership.
We also express our appreciation to the numerous community members who emailed Gov. Newsom in support of AB 241 and AB 242. Thank you for standing with us!