On New Year’s Eve in 2015, a 23-year-old man got drunk; ate a marijuana-laced brownie; went up to the sloped, tiled roof of his building; slipped; and fell off. Four hours later, he was found barely alive on the hood of a car that was parked near the building’s roof.... Read More »
In this age of social media, it is no wonder that public officials use it to communicate with their constituents. Two members of a Southern California school board did just that. But to their dismay, two disgruntled parents repeatedly posted lengthy, unfavorable opinions on the officials’ public Facebook and Twitter... Read More »
California’s Native American tribes won a victory against the state when the Ninth Circuit ruled that Governor Gavin Newsom’s attempt to make tribes enforce the state’s domestic support orders, comply with its environmental laws, and waive sovereign immunity in tort claims were “wholly collateral” to the operation of casinos, and... Read More »
Death penalty cases in California have two phases. The first determines guilt and the second decides the penalty. A possibly exculpatory eyewitness to a murder and an attempted murder could not be located during the guilt phase of a recent case before the Supreme Court of California. The witness was... Read More »
Ernesto Ayon was convicted of possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and concealed cash. But the police who arrested him acted unlawfully when they stopped him for minor traffic violations and detained him until a narcotics dog arrived. An appellate court found that Ayon’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated because... Read More »
Arizona law mandates that all bicycles have and use a headlight at night. One evening, the plaintiff in a current case went out for a ride on a bicycle that did not have one. A police officer saw him, followed him to confirm the violation, and opened his door to... Read More »
A prisoner in his 60s with chronic health problems asked to be placed in protective custody six times because he was afraid he would be hurt by gang members in an Arizona prison. His requests were denied each time and his fears came true. At trial, the jury was told... Read More »
Inmates in Arizona prisons may be prohibited from receiving mail that contains “sexually explicit material or content that is detrimental to the safe, secure, and orderly operation of the facility.” While the Ninth Circuit agreed that some censorship of prisoners’ reading material is constitutional because it advances desirable “penological interests,”... Read More »
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the “Safer Streets for All Act,” a controversial bill that supporters say will “protect the most marginalized in our community,” on July 1. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Scott Weiner, repeals a 1995 section of the California Penal Code that criminalized loitering with the... Read More »
Like thousands of others, Willie McNeal used Old Spice Talc for men as part of his daily routine. He used it for over 20 years, from 1958 to 1980, not knowing that the powder contained carcinogenic minerals. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive and rare cancer, in 2017, and... Read More »
The struggle to preserve fair elections is now facing another challenge. When the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) begins its October 2022-2023 term, it will hear a case that asks whether state legislatures, not state courts, have the sole constitutional authority to regulate federal elections. This means that it will... Read More »
School is over, but schools’ responsibility toward students could remain long after the dismissal bell rings. A student who was stabbed in her high school’s parking lot when her track team was dismissed early may now get redress for her injuries. An appellate court remanded her case to Superior Court to determine... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security implemented a series of Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) in January 2019. Under those orders, most often known as ex-President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program, “certain non-Mexican nationals arriving by land from Mexico were returned to Mexico to await the results of their removal proceedings.” These aspiring immigrants,... Read More »
He came to the United States to avoid being tortured or killed. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denied his right to protection because he failed to provide enough credible testimony about the dangers he would face if he returned to El Salvador. He appealed their decision and won. Now... Read More »
The University of Washington knew about the sexual misconduct of one of its male students. He went on to rape a freshman just a few days after she arrived on campus. These are the chilling facts. But the Ninth Circuit would not rule on whether the University owed her the... Read More »
