the jury or even has the chance to be selected.12 During jury selection, parties must remain unbiased and not discriminate based on race or gender, as established in Batson v. Kentucky, 474 U.S. 79 (1986), and J.E.B. v. Alabama, 511 U.S. 127 (1994).13 But the elimination of potential key jurors generates a substantial issue, and people of certain gender identities and ethnicities are less likely to be considered for a jury position. One response to the pandemic's disproportionate effect on criminal justice as cases stall is a new proposed Bill, SB 315.14 This expands upon preexisting legislation that provides a pretrial diversion program for anyone charged with a misdemeanor. It does so through the introduction of the COVID-19 Alternative Adjudication Program, which would call for courts to dismiss an accusatory pleading if six months have passed since the defendant was released from custody and as long as they were not charged with a subsequent misdemeanor or a felony. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center is a strong proponent of the bill and believes that it could directly improve the backlog and protect public health as it provides judges with the ability to dismiss low-level criminal cases.15 The bill was revolutionary in the time of COVID-19 and would even erase the record of the initial arrest. The COVID 19 Alternative Adjudication Program depicts how new changes to criminal procedure can help fight back against countless barriers to justice that have only increased in severity as the pandemic remains. 12
Constitutional Concerns Related to Jury Trials During the COVID-19 Pandemic, NCSC (Mar. 29, 2021), https://www.ncsc.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/57886/Constitutional-ConcernsRelated-to-Jury-Trials-During-the-COVID-19-Pandemic.pdf. 13 Criminal Procedure, LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE, (last visited Mar. 16, 2022), https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/criminal_procedure. 14 SB-315 Criminal procedure: COVID-19 Alternative Adjudication Program, CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION (Jul. 29, 2020, 9:00 PM), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB315. 15 Horiuchi, Kimberly, Criminal Procedure: COVID-19 Alternative Adjudication Program, TRACKBILL, https://trackbill.com/bill/california-senate-bill-315-criminal-procedurecovid-19-alternative-adjudication-program/1693172/ (last visited Apr. 7, 2022).
258
