CSSA Magazine Article- Cost Recovery of Expenses Responding to DUI Incident

“COST RECOVERY OF EXPENSES RESPONDING TO DUI INCIDENTS” July, 2006 By:  Martin J. Mayer JONES & MAYER There has been an ongoing debate surrounding the question of what expenses can law enforcement recover when responding to an incident caused by an intoxicated driver?  The debate focused on how one defines an “incident” and, whether the […]

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. 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 […]

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 […]