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 […]
Distinction in ADA Compliance Requirements for Public and Private Entity Websites
A recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has garnered attention and, in the process, created some confusion about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and obligations to make websites accessible for people with disabilities. Much of the confusion stems from distinct sets of rules stemming from Title II and Title III of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Vol. 34 No. 6 COLLECTION OF DEFENDANT’S DNA SAMPLE WAS UNLAWFUL UNDER THE FOURTH AMENDMENT BECAUSE PROSECUTION FAILED TO PROVE THAT HIS DNA WAS COLLECTED AS PART OF A ROUTINE BOOKING PROCEDURE
In the case of People v. Marquez, 2019 Cal. App. LEXIS 48 (4th Dist. Jan. 15, 2019), the California Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the 2006 collection of Daniel Joseph Marquez’s DNA sample was unlawful under the Fourth Amendment, but also concluded that the trial court properly admitted 2008 DNA evidence from a […]
Vol. 33 No. 34 POLICE OFFICER BODY CAMERA VIDEO AND AUDIO RECORDINGS OF “CRITICAL INCIDENTS” ARE DISCLOSABLE UNDER THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT
On September 30, 2018 Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 748 (“AB 748”) which added language to the Public Records Act that relates to police investigation records. Beginning July 1, 2019, video or audio recordings of “critical incidents” may only be withheld from the public for a period of longer than 45 days if […]