Tag Archives: criminal justice
DISCLOSURE OF CONVICTIONS TO EMPLOYERS
Effective January, 1, 2018, employers in California with five or more employees cannot make employment decisions regarding convictions unless first performing an individualized assessment. The Assessment entails consideration of: [1] the underlying facts of the crime as they relate to the nature and seriousness of the conviction; [2] the period of time that has elapsed since the crime … Read More
Court of Appeal Recuses Orange County District Attorney’s Office in Murder Case
On November 23, 2016, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the Superior Court’s Decision recusing the entire District Attorneys Office in Orange County [OCDA] in the penalty phase of a case in which the defendant had previously pled guilty to eight counts of murder. The Superior Court concluded the OCDA had such a severe … Read More
California Death Penalty. Vote November 8th
There are two measures that deal with the death penalty in California that are on the ballot in the forthcoming November 8th election. California has the largest number of inmates awaiting the death penalty of all the states. The last execution in California was about ten years ago when it was legally challenged because of … Read More
WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET PULLED OVER?
Knowing what to do in the event you get pulled over is very important. However, it is equally important to know the reasons for getting stopped by a law enforcement officer so as to avoid being pulled over in the first place. Here are a few of the top reasons: Speeding. Clearly, driving above the … Read More
Appeals Court Upholds California Death Penalty
On November 12, 2015, the United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the California Death Penalty and in so doing reversed the ruling by the US District Court that decided under the 8th Amendment it was unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment because of lengthy and unpredictable delays. The California Attorney … Read More
Is a University Liable for Violence on the Campus?
The California Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear oral argument on Friday, August 7, 2015 in a case filed in 2010 by Katherine Rosen against her attacker and UCLA, which is governed by the Regents of the University of California; at the time she was a UCLA student who was stabbed and had her … Read More
Unintended Consequences of Criminal Offenders Being Transferred from State Prison to County Jail
The growing population of over 150,000 inmates in state prisons in California has exceeded the level the U.S. Supreme Court opined in 2011 is permissible. There has been litigation in Federal Court to obtain a more speedy reduction of the state prison population, and a new law has been enacted as a result of the … Read More
Should law Enforcement Be Permitted to Stop and Search on the Basis of an Anonymous Tip of Reckless Driving?
In the U.S. Supreme Court case of PRADO NAVARETTE et al. v. CALIFORNIA, 12-9490 (April 22, 2014), the Court held the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was not violated and, therefore, the traffic stop by a CHP law enforcement in which the officer searched the bed of a pickup truck and found about thirty … Read More
Former BP Engineer Convicted of Obstructing Justice
In New Orleans today, there was a jury verdict after the U.S. Department of Justice charged Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, of deleting hundreds of text messages from his iPhone, thereby thwarting the investigation of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although none of the top executives of BP have … Read More
Undercover Law Enforcement Operations
On October 23, 2013, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of UNITED STATES vs. BLACK, #11-10036, held a reverse sting operation by the government was not so outrageous and shocking to be barred by elementary principles of due process and fairness and, therefore, affirmed the U.S. District Court conviction of multiple defendants. … Read More