Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier SCOTUS Clarifies Standard for Plaintiffs to Sue Public Officials for Social Media Restraint
On March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court, in Lindke v. Freed1 and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier2 established a new standard to assess whether a social medial account run by local, state, or federal government officials subjects that public official to a potential First Amendment violation under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The decisions clarify when […]
SCOTUS Clarifies Standard for Plaintiffs to Sue Public Officials for Social Media Restraint – Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. GarnierSCOTUS Clarifies Standard for Plaintiffs to Sue Public Officials for Social Media Restraint –
On March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court, in Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier established a new standard to assess whether a social medial account run by local, state, or federal government officials subjects that public official to a potential First Amendment violation under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The decisions clarify when […]
Employer Requirements for Workplace Violence Plans Effective July 1, 2024
On September 30, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 553, effective July 1, 2024, which updates requirements for obtaining protective orders on behalf of an employee and creates a new requirement for employers to develop a workplace violence plan and violence log—and requires them to train employees on workplace violence. SB 553 […]
Temporary Employees Covered Under Meyers-Milias-Brown Act
On October 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1484, which will include temporary employees in the bargaining groups created under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”). AB 1484, which will be codified as California Government Code §3507.7, goes into effect on January 1, 2024. Who Is Covered Under Government Code §3507.7? Newly adopted Government […]
Summary Judgment in Favor of Whittier Officers Affirmed in Illegal Search Warrant Claim
We received the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Salvador Salas case against the City of Whittier and Officers Brian Corletto, Brittany Corcoran, and Luis Salas affirming the decision of the District Court that granted summary judgment to all of the defendants and entered judgment in their favor. Salvador Salas brought […]
Additional noticing, records retention, and posting requirements for property taxes, written protests, and public debt reports
Summary Recently Governor Brown approved three separate bills that impose additional administrative requirements on financial processes that cities commonly encounter. Starting January 1, 2017, cities must provide notice to non-resident property owners of a proposed parcel tax, must retain for two years written protests against new/increased property assessments, and must post annual debt reports to […]
Limitation on City Regulation of Accessory Dwelling Units
Designed to provide relief from California’s housing shortage, Senate Bill 1069 and Assembly Bill 2299 (collectively “SB 1069,” effective January 1, 2017) limit city authority to regulate accessory dwelling units. It also replaces city building, parking and use standards on this topic and imposes standards on cities that have not yet adopted their own regulations. […]
Joint power agencies must file joint powers agreement with LAFCO by July 1, 2017
Senate Bill 1266 (“SB 1266”) provides that joint power agencies that, (1) have a city as a member and, (2) that were formed to provide municipal services, must file a copy of the joint powers agreement[1] with the local agency formation commission (“LAFCO”) by July 1, 2017.[2] Such joint power agencies that are formed after […]
Cities can be liable under Inverse Condemnation for damage caused by fallen trees that were planted by the City
I. Summary On August 24, 2017, the California Court of Appeal held that the City of Pasadena was not liable for damages caused by a City tree falling onto a house in a suit for inverse condemnation because there was no record that the City planted the tree as part of a public improvement project.[1] […]
Claims Procedure for Contractors on Public Works Projects
April 17, 2017 I. Summary Public works contracts entered into between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2020 must incorporate the newly enacted contractor claims procedures that are set forth in Public Contract Code Section 9204 (“Section 9204”). Assembly Bill 626 (“AB 626”) enacted Section 9204 and requires a public entity to respond to a contractor’s […]