An optimistic view of California's future
Read More ...

Focusing on the financial costs of capital punishment
Read More ...

Criticism from California's Chief Justice
Read More ...

Ride the Ducks v. Bay Quackers
Read More ...

The budget crisis in California is getting tragically worse by the day. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the L.A. County Sheriff's Office will be suspending DNA testing for sexual assault victims due to budgetary reasons. There is currently no money to pay for testing at private labs, although federal money may alleviate this problem next month.
Read More ...

Two highly unlikely former foes, Ted Olson and David Boies, are teaming up to challenge bans against marriage equality for LBGT families in federal court. They are claiming that state constitutional bans, such as Prop. 8, violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. There was a similar challenge made in the federal courts regarding marriage equality back in 1972, just five years after the Loving v. Virginia decision.
Read More ...

There are a number of rumors circulating that the California Supreme Court will be issuing its ruling on Prop. 8 tomorrow morning. There are already reports of barricades being placed by SFPD in the Castro District in expectation of large crowds. Coincidentally, tomorrow is the 30th Anniversary of the White Night Riots. The White Night Riots were a response to the lenient sentence given to Dan White for the murders of Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor Moscone.
Read More ...

Rumors are circulating among legal blogs that a ruling with be issued tomorrow by the California Supreme Court regarding the legality of Prop. 8. Check the court's website for more details. When the decision is released, it will be available immediately on the website.
Read More ...

The San Jose Mercury News reports today on a new study which details a huge surge in anti-gay hate crimes in Santa Clara County following the passage of Prop. 8. In 2008, hate crimes against LBGT people accounted for 56% of the total -- compared with 15% from 2007.
Read More ...

A special panel of federal judges ruled on Monday that the conditions within California prisons have become so poor that the state will have to release tens of thousands of inmates to resolve overcrowding. The court stated that conditions in California prisons have degraded so badly that suicide among inmates has become common, and many die from illness due to lack of medical care.
Read More ...

Federal and state forms and publications for taxpayers
Read More ...

The Courage Campaign, a political action group that advocates for marriage equality in California, has created a photo collection of families affected by the passage of Prop. 8. The oral argument regarding Prop. 8 is scheduled to be heard by the California Supreme Court in March. Ken Starr, dean of Pepperdine University's School of Law, will be arguing in support of the ballot measure.
Read More ...

Restorative justice efforts for juvenile offenders
Read More ...

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed African-American man who was in police custody was arrested in Nevada yesterday on suspicion of murder. The 27-year old police officer claimed he fled to Nevada due to death threats made against him. The family of the victim is currently suing BART for wrongful death, asking for $25 million in damages.
Read More ...

There has been significant news about Prop. 8 in the last few weeks. Recently, state attorney general, Jerry Brown, suggested that Prop. 8 violates the fundamental liberty interest and equal protection clause. A number of progressive religious groups, including Reform Judaism, the UCC, the UUA, the Episcopal Church, and the Quakers jointly filed a petition in the ongoing lawsuit against the state.
Read More ...

The state of California has recently announced a lawsuit against the Bush Administration regarding changes to the Endangered Species Act. At issue are changes made to the standard of scientific review for new developments on public lands.
Read More ...

It has just been announced that the California Supreme Court will hear the legal challenges to the recently passed Prop. 8. The justices voted 6-1 to review the lawsuits. Various civil rights, and LGBT groups, have filed suit against the state regarding Prop. 8 arguing that it is a revision, requiring legislative approval.
Read More ...

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, based in San Francisco, has filed a petition over Prop. 8, a ballot initiative which deprives LGBT families of the fundamental right of marriage. The NCLR is joined by a host of other organizations in this petition, including the ACLU and Lambda Legal. The petition is available in PDF format.
Read More ...

The New York Times editorial board has written an article in today's issue calling for a no vote on California's Prop. 8. The proposition, known as the "Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry Act" would ban marriage equality in the state and eliminate the legal rights given to married LGBT couples under the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.
Read More ...

A 10th Amendment claim against the federal Controlled Substances Act has survived a motion for dismissal in the Santa Cruz v. Gonzales case being heard by the Northern District of California. The plaintiff "allege[s] that federal officials have devised a strategic plan of targeted enforcement that has had the intended effect of rendering California's medical marijuana laws impossible to implement and thereby forcing California and its political subdivisions to recriminalize medial marijuana."
Read More ...

The San Jose Mercury News has published an editorial today denouncing Prop. 8, the initiative which seeks to ban marriage equality. They are joining the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Orange County Register in calling for a "no" vote on this ballot initiative.
Read More ...

The Los Angeles Times published an editorial today on the issue of Prop. 8 which will appear on the November ballot. Prop. 8 intends to rescind the right to civil marriage from same-gender couples. The editorial discusses how this proposition is markedly different from Prop. 22 back in 2000 which revised the state code to restrict marriage to opposite-gender couples.
Read More ...

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article today on Proposition 8, which seeks to deny civil marriage rights to same-gender families. In the article, state Attorney General Jerry Brown states that the marriages formed prior to the election will remain valid even if the proposition banning them passes.
Read More ...

It has been revealed today that Mary Cheney, daughter to vice president Dick Cheney, donated $3,000 to the No on Prop. 8 campaign along with her wife, Heather Poe. Mary and Heather have a one-year old daughter together and live in Grand Falls, Virginia.
Read More ...

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting on a recent decision by the California Supreme Court regarding the right of allocution at sentencing. Dating back to 17th century England, the right of allocution is the ability of a defendant to address the court during sentencing to ask for leniency. Normally allocution is not subject to cross-examination. The court found no such right and declared that defendants addressing the court must do so under oath, and are subject to cross-examination.
Read More ...

The state-appointed Little Hoover Commission today released its report on the state of California's juvenile detention system. The report, "Juvenile Justice Reform: Realigning Responsibilities", suggesting laying "the groundwork for the creation of county-run, state-funded, regional rehabilitative facilities for high-risk, high-need juvenile offenders and for the eventual elimination of state juvenile justice operations". The report is available online in PDF format.
Read More ...