Vol. 21 No. 10- Public Employee Speech And The First Amendment
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE SPEECH AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT June 5, 2006 On May 30, 2006 the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Garcetti v. Ceballos, 2006 DJDAR 6495, holding that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not protect statements, made by a public sector employee, which were made pursuant […]
Vol. 21 No. 9- Penal Code Section Prohibiting False Citizens’ Complaints Against Peace Officers Unconstitutional
PENAL CODE SECTION PROHIBITING FALSE CITIZENS’ COMPLAINTS AGAINST PEACE OFFICERS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. May 17, 2006 On May 15, 2006 , the United States Supreme Court denied a petition for review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding California Penal Code Section 148.6 unconstitutional, Docket No. 05-1118. Section 148.6 provides that “[e]very person who files […]
Vol. 21 No. 8- Convicted Sex Offenders Are Not A “Protected Class”
CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS ARE NOT A “PROTECTED CLASS” May 8, 2006 On April 27, 2006 , the California Attorney General (A.G.) published Opinion No. 05-301, in response to a question posed by a member of the Assembly: “Does the prohibition against the unauthorized use of registered sex offender identifying information, obtained from the “Megan’s Law” […]
Vol. 21 No. 7- SB 719- Requirements Of The New Pursuit Legislation
SB 719- REQUIREMENTS OF THE NEW PURSUIT LEGISLATION April 11, 2006 It has come to our attention that information being generated regarding the requirements of Senate Bill 719, which deals with pursuit policies, appears to be incorrect and/or misleading. A recent notice sent out by a major law firm, apparently to all law enforcement agencies […]
Vol. 21 No. 16- Public Records Act Demand
PUBLIC RECORDS ACT DEMAND December 11, 2006 This will serve to provide a suggested response to the requests to examine documents pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) as set forth in emails of early last week. We have been provided with a list of items that in recent days have been requested of […]
Vol. 21 No. 17- Police Officer’s Procedural Bill Of Rights And The Tort Claims Act
POLICE OFFICER’S PROCEDURAL BILL OF RIGHTS AND THE TORT CLAIMS ACT December 19, 2006 We are most pleased to report that the First Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal just published a decision, in Lozada v. City and County of San Francisco, holding that an officer must first file a claim under the […]
CSSA Magazine Article- Medical Marijuana: Law Enforcement’s “Rock and a Hard Place”
“MEDICAL MARIJUANA: LAW ENFORCEMENT’S “ROCK AND A HARD PLACE” January, 2007 By: Martin J. Mayer JONES & MAYER Approximately ten years ago, California voters approved Proposition 215 which, in essence, provides a defense to criminal prosecution for possession of marijuana when used for medical purposes. The proposition was subsequently codified as the “Compassionate Use Act” […]
CSSA Magazine Article- Officer’s Use of Force
“AN OFFICER’S USE OF FORCE: WHAT IS REASONABLE?” July, 2007 By: Martin J. Mayer JONES & MAYER The question of when law enforcement officers are entitled to use force, and what amount of force is reasonable, is a question which constantly plagues all peace officers. Over the course of the last year or so, and […]
Vol. 22 No. 7- Spielbauer decision vacated!
SPIELBAUER DECISION VACATED! May 9, 2007 The California Supreme Court, on May 9, 2007, granted the petition for review, requested by the County of Santa Clara, in the case of Spielbauer v. County of Santa Clara (Case: S150402). In the Spielbauer decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that, despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Lybarger […]
Vol. 22 No. 6- New pursuit law becomes effective July 1, 2007
NEW PURSUIT LAW BECOMES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007 May 4, 2007 California ‘s new rules regarding pursuits take effect on July 1, 2007 and must be met by law enforcement agencies if they wish to retain the immunity from civil liability set forth in V.C. section 17004.7. SB 719 passed into law in late 2005 […]