California: Judicial Interpretation of Secondary Legal Sources Bill Introduced

SB 1296, Insurance: judicial interpretation, has been introduced by Sen. Roger Niello. The legislation is intended to address concerns that some trial courts treat secondary legal sources that may provide legal opinions or summaries of legal doctrines or legal trends as authoritative statements of the actual state law.

The legislation states:

A secondary source on insurance, including a legal treatise, scholarly publication, textbook, or other explanatory text, shall not constitute the law or public policy of the state. A secondary source on insurance is not authoritative if it purports to create, eliminate, expand, or restrict a cause of action, right, or remedy, or if it conflicts with any of the following:

(a) The United States Constitution or the California Constitution.

(b) State statutes.

(c) The state’s case law precedent.

(d) Other common law adopted by the state