Vol. 23 No. 25- Massachusetts Marijuana Law Creates Concern
MASSACHUSETTS MARIJUANA LAW CREATES CONCERN December 29, 2008 The following article indicates the concern Massachusetts law enforcement has about the potential impact their new marijuana law might have on testing and/or disciplining employees for use of marijuana. Although this is not dealing with medical marijuana, their concerns are similar to those expressed in California and […]
Vol. 23 No. 15- Employee E-mails, Cell Phones & Text Messages – A Matter of Privacy
EMPLOYEE E-MAILS, CELL PHONES & TEXT MESSAGES – A MATTER OF PRIVACY AUGUST 25, 2008 Recently, the Ninth Circuit, U. S. Court of Appeals issued a ruling, in the case of Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co. (June 18, 2008), where it held, among other things, that employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in […]
Vol. 23 No. 14 California’s Medical Marijuana Id Card Program Is Not Unconstitutional
CALIFORNIA’S MEDICAL MARIJUANA ID CARD PROGRAM IS NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL August 4, 2008 On July 31, 2008, the California Court of Appeal ruled, in County of San Diego v. San Diego NORML, that the requirement of the Medical Marijuana Program (“MMP”), that counties provide medicinal marijuana identification cards to qualified patients, did not violate the Federal […]
Vol. 23 No. 13- Coleman/Plata Update
COLEMAN/PLATA UPDATE July 17, 2008 In our last update on the prisoner release litigation [Coleman v. Schwarzenegger/Plata v. Schwarzenegger], we informed you that all parties, including intervenors, were actively engaged in the settlement process. While all of the parties worked tirelessly at reaching a resolution, settlement was not able to be achieved. On June 23, […]
Vol. 23 No. 12- State Will Appeal Medical Marijuana Ruling
STATE WILL APPEAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULING June 9, 2008 Just last week, on May 27, 2008, we published a Client Alert Memo (Vol. 23, No. 10) regarding a Court of Appeal decision in the case of People v. Kelly. In that case, the Court ruled that the statutory cap established by the legislature in SB […]
Vol. 23 No. 11- CPRA & Critical Incidents
CPRA & CRITICAL INCIDENTS June 5, 2008 Recently the California Attorney General published an official opinion (No. 07-208) concluding that, absent justification, law enforcement agencies are obligated to disclose names of public sector employees involved in critical incidents, such as officer involved shootings. Based upon statutory and case law we concur with the opinion of […]
Vol. 23 No. 10- Statutory Limit On Medical Marijuana Is Unconstitutional
STATUTORY LIMIT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL May 27, 2008 In 1996 California voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act [CUA], which granted limited immunity from criminal prosecution of those who possessed and used marijuana, if they qualified as medical users. On May 22, 2008, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District ruled, in […]
Vol. 23 No. 16- AG Guidelines Regarding Medical Marijuana
AG GUIDELINES REGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA AUGUST 27, 2008 The California Attorney General has just released guidelines regarding California’s medical marijuana law, under the authority of Health & Safety Code section 11362.81(d). After the passage of Proposition 215, the Legislature passed SB 420, which created the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMP), which was codified in the […]
Vol. 23 No. 24- Court Rules State Law Limits Peace Officers From Entering A Home To Seize Firearms After Taking “5150” Into Protective Custody, Outside Of The Home
COURT RULES STATE LAW LIMITS PEACE OFFICERS FROM ENTERING A HOME TO SEIZE FIREARMS AFTER TAKING “5150” INTO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY, OUTSIDE OF THE HOME December 17, 2008 California state law limits the authority of peace officers to enter the home of a mentally ill person, who was taken into custody for psychiatric evaluation while outside […]
Vol. 23 No. 23- U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Garden Grove Case
U.S. SUPREME COURT REJECTS GARDEN GROVE CASE December 04, 2008 On December 1, 2008, the United States Supreme Court refused to review the case ofGarden Grove v. Superior Court (Kha). This case, as many of you will recall, involved the seizure of marijuana from Felix Kha, following a traffic stop. He subsequently produced a doctor’s recommendation […]