Vol. 27 No. 1 – County Jails, State Parolees and ADA
COUNTY JAILS, STATE PAROLEES AND ADA On January 13, 2012, Judge Claudia Wilken, of the federal District Court of Northern California, issued an order, in the case of Armstrong v. Brown, requiring the State of California to monitor county jails to insure that state inmates housed in those jails are provided all their rights under […]
Vol. 26 No. 29 – A Police Chief Cannot Be Removed Without Notice and an Appeal
A Police Chief Cannot Be “Removed” Without Notice and an Appeal On December 27 2011, the California Court of Appeal, Fifth District, ruled in the case of Robinson v. City of Chowchilla, that, among other things, the city breached its statutory obligations, under the Public Safety Officers’ Procedural Bill of Rights Act (POBR), when it removed the police chief from office […]
Vol. 27 No. 7 – Qualified Immunity Is Available When Actions Are Objectively Reasonable
QUALIFIED IMMUNITY IS AVAILABLE WHEN ACTIONS ARE OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE On February 22, 2012, in the case of Messerschmidt et al. v. Millender et al., the United States Supreme Court reversed a decision from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals which had denied officers qualified immunity from civil liability after they executed a search warrant issued […]
Vol. 27 No. 8 – Ninth Circuit Says It’s OK To Take DNA From Felony Arrestees
NINTH CIRCUIT SAYS IT’S OK TO TAKE DNA FROM FELONY ARRESTEES On March 1, 2012, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, in the case ofHaskell v. Harris, held that requiring persons, arrested on felony charges, to provide a DNA sample was not unconstitutional. In 2004, California’s DNA and Forensic Identification […]
Vol. 27 No. 14 – More Changes to PERS Rules Regarding Retired Annuitants
MORE CHANGES TO PERS RULES REGARDING RETIRED ANNUITANTS Pursuant to the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), once one retires from PERS, he/she can no longer work for a PERS agency, unless an exception applies. California Government Code 21220 states, in part, that “(a) A person who has been retired under this system, for service or for disability, may […]
Vol. 27 No. 13 – Constitutional Law (Pitchess Motions)
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW- PITCHESS MOTIONS Case Name – Rezek v. Superior Court (California Court of Appeal—2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 630—May 25, 2012) Summary – When a defendant seeks statements of witnesses to the charged incident that are contained in a peace officer’s personnel file, the officer’s privacy interests are implicated less than when the information sought pertains […]
Vol. 27 No. 12 – County Property, Gun Shows, and the Second Amendment
COUNTY PROPERTY, GUN SHOWS, AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT On June 1, 2012 the Ninth Circuit U. S. Court of Appeal, in a unanimous en banc decision, ruled in Nordyke v. Alameda County Board of Supervisors, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11076, that Alameda County’s (modified) ban on guns being sold on county property did NOT violate the Second Amendment to […]
Vol. 27 No. 11 – Ninth Circuit: Medical Marijuana Use Constitutes “Illegal Drug” Under the Americans with Disabilities Act
NINTH CIRCUIT: MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE CONSTITUES “ILLEGAL DRUG USE” UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT Recently, Jones & Mayer were successful in urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm the denial of a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the City of Costa Mesa’s prohibition of medical marijuana dispensaries. On May 21, 2012, the […]
Vol 27 No. 10 – Contract Attorneys Working For the Public Sector Can Ask For Qualified Immunity
CONTRACT ATTORNEYS WORKING FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR CAN ASK FOR QUALIFIED IMMUNITY On April 17, 2012, the United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision in the case ofFilarsky v. Delia, held that a private individual temporarily retained by the government to carry out its work is entitled to seek qualified immunity from suit under §1983. […]
Vol. 27 No. 9 – Strip Searches Permitted For All Persons Going Into General Jail Population
STRIP SEARCHES PERMITTED FOR ALL PERSONS GOING INTO THE GENERAL JAIL POPULATION On April 2, 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that visual body searches of arrestees being placed in the general jail population are constitutional, regardless of the nature of the underlying offense. In the case of Florence v. Board of […]