(a) Statement of purpose
Consistent with the court’s duty to prevent bias, as described in standard 10.20, and to ensure the inclusivity of juror identification and any juror questionnaire under Code of Civil Procedure section 205(e), the court, its judicial officers, and its employees should use gender-inclusive language on juror questionnaires and in written and oral communications directed to jurors. For the purpose of this standard, “juror” includes a prospective juror.
(b) Recommended practices
(1) The court, its judicial officers, and its employees should use gender-neutral language in general materials and communications directed to jurors whenever applicable.
(2) To avoid making assumptions about gender, the court, its judicial officers, and its employees should not use gender-specific honorifics or pronouns to identify or refer to a juror who has not indicated the honorific or pronouns that the juror uses.
(3) The court, its judicial officers, and its employees should avoid seeking information about the gender of a juror or a relevant individual associated with the juror (a family member, friend, or person with whom the juror has a significant personal relationship) when such information is not necessary or relevant to the proper exercise of the court’s adjudicatory or administrative functions.
(4) When the court seeks information about the gender of a juror or an associated individual to properly carry out its adjudicatory or administrative functions, the court should allow the juror to indicate their gender identity or gender expression, as applicable. To assist a juror who has privacy concerns with disclosing such information, the court should, whenever possible, either specify that responding to a question about gender is optional or provide a “decline to state” option.
(A) When a question about gender provides multiple responses to choose from, the question should allow for multiple options to be selected (e.g., “select all that apply”).
(B) When a question about gender provides multiple options to choose from (e.g., man, nonbinary, woman), including a write-in response option, the accompanying text for the write-in option, if included, should use phrases like “prefer to self-identify” or “identify as” and avoid phrases like “other” or “none of the above.”
Standard 10.22 adopted effective July 1, 2026.