Vol. 36 No. 5 REHEARING EN BANC, NINTH CIRCUIT COURT CONCLUDES THAT INDIVIDUALS DO NOT HAVE A SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT TO CARRY FIREARMS OPENLY IN PUBLIC
In Young v. Hawaii, the en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an unfettered, general right to openly carry arms in public. In reaching its conclusion, the Court concluded that the State of Hawaii’s restrictions on the open carrying of firearms reflect longstanding prohibitions, and therefore, the […]
Vol. 36 No. 4 NO CLEARLY ESTABLISHED LAW GOVERNED THE REASONABLENESS OF USING A CANINE TO SUBDUE A NON-COMPLIANT SUSPECT
In Hernandez v. Town of Gilbert, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that no clearly established law controlled in the specific context of a suspect who continued to resist police and refused to surrender throughout an incident in which the officers escalated from a minimal use of force through lesser uses of force before […]
Voter initiative ballot measures to impose special taxes do not need 2/3 voter approval
Summary In City and County of San Francisco v. All Persons Interested in Matter of Proposition C, 51 Cal. App. 5th 703 (2020), the California Court of Appeal held that San Francisco’s (“City”) Proposition C (“Prop C”) was validly passed by the electorate with a simple majority. Prop C was a voter-sponsored initiative that imposed […]
Vol. 36 No. 7 PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS PROCEDURAL BILL OF RIGHTS SECTION 3303(G) DOES NOT REQUIRE AUTOMATIC DISCLOSURE OF REPORTS AND COMPLAINTS PRIOR TO ANY FURTHER INTERROGATION OF AN OFFICER UNDER INVESTIGATION
In Oakland Police Officers’ Ass’n v. City of Oakland, the California First District Court of Appeal concluded that the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights, Government Code Section 3303(g) does not require automatic disclosure of reports and complaints prior to any further interrogation of an officer under investigation. Instead, the investigating agency’s disclosure obligations […]
Vol. 36 No. 8 DETECTIVES WERE ENTITLED TO QUALIFIED IMMUNITY BECAUSE IT WAS NOT CLEARLY ESTABLISHED THAT THEIR INTERROGATION TACTICS ‘SHOCKED THE CONSCIENCE’ WHEN USED OVER A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
In Tobias v. Arteaga, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the denial of qualified immunity for officers with regards to a plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim. The Court held that detectives interrogating a minor suspect in a murder investigation were entitled to qualified immunity because it was not clearly established that their […]
Vol. 36 No. 12 KILLGORE DECISION RE MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS AND CLOSELY REGULATED INSPECTIONS
Background The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently reaffirmed a decades old California state appellate court decision that held that the massage industry is closely regulated and a warrantless administrative inspection of massage parlors under ordinances that meet certain factors do not violate the Fourth Amendment. This Ninth Circuit case, Killgore v. City of […]
Vol. 36 No. 11 NINTH CIRCUIT STAYS DISTRICT COURT RULING HOLDING THAT CALIFORNIA ASSAULT WEAPONS LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
In the June 2021 case of Miller v. Bonta, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California held that California statutes which restrict the use of assault weapons violate the Second Amendment. However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently stayed the lower court’s ruling pending appeal proceedings. Thus, the State’s assault […]
Vol. 36 No. 10 UNDER THE FOURTH AMENDMENT, PURSUIT OF A FLEEING MISDEMEANOR SUSPECT DOES NOT ALWAYS JUSTIFY A WARRANTLESS ENTRY INTO A HOME
In Lange v. California, the United States Supreme Court held that an officer’s pursuit of a fleeing misdemeanor suspect does not categorically justify a warrantless entry into a home. Instead, as per Supreme Court precedent, a case-by-case assessment of exigency is required when deciding whether a suspected misdemeanant’s flight justifies a warrantless home entry. Background […]
Permissible Expenditures of American Rescue Plan Act Funds
Summary On March 10, 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”). The Act provides relief funding for states and local governments to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act requires disbursement to local agencies by the US Department of the Treasury (the “US DOT”) to cities with populations […]
Vol. 36 No. 9 SUPREME COURT REJECTS BROAD APPLICATION EXTENDING COMMUNITY CARETAKING EXCEPTION TO WARRANTLESS SEARCHES AND SEIZURES IN HOME IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES
In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the United States Supreme Court in Caniglia v. Strom rejected a lower court’s broad interpretation of the “community caretaking exception,” which erroneously extrapolated a previous Supreme Court case’s statement regarding the exception to warrantless search and seizure in a home context under the specific facts of this case. Background During […]