California legal news, california Courts news, california courts cuts

Head-Trauma Cases Eyed As ‘Tidal Wave’ Headed To Courts

March 15, 2016 By CCM Staff

Bloomberg Legal has an in-depth analysis of head-trauma cases likely to head into U.S. courts, and one expert says it will be a “tidal wave,” but not just the NFL and pro athletes will be involved. Instead, pointing to a recently settled California case and other indicators, the observers from academia and the front lines say youth sports will become a bigger deal.

The report notes that “… repetitive head trauma often begins in youth sports, and the impact on young brains may be the key to future sports concussion litigation, the lawyers say. Developments in chronic brain injury diagnosis may also raise the odds of suits by youth and adult amateur players against equipment manufacturers, schools and non-profit sports leagues.”

The California case cited in the report “… involves claims by the parents of a quadriplegic youth football player that Pop Warner league coaches trained their son to tackle with his helmet, increasing the likelihood of severe injury (Dixon v. Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., Cal. Super. Ct., No. BC526842, filed, 11/5/13).” The case was recently resolved in a confidential settlement for an undisclosed amount.

Filed Under: Community, National Tagged With: concussions, courts news, head trauma, litigation, NFL, youth sports

Lawsuits, Legislation On Tap As California Charter Schools Keep Attracting Students

March 14, 2016 By CCM Staff

About one-fifth of students in the San Diego Unified School District have turned to charters such as College Preparatory Middle School, above. The district expects that figure to climb. (Misael Virgen / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Los Angeles Times has a detailed report from the front lines of the Golden State’s public charter schools battles, noting that “… twenty-five years after the California Charter School Act allowed public money to fund charter schools, which can be privately run and are often not unionized, advocates across the county and the state are waging legal and legislative fights. These disputes have led to tense relationships in districts that are scrambling to recoup the thousands of students who have sought alternatives.

Some numbers in the report: In the 2008-09 academic year, 38,680 students attended 73 charter schools in San Diego County. This year, 69,685 students are enrolled in 124 charters. But with growth comes questions.

San Diego County has emerged as a sort of Ground Zero for the California schools debate, although Los Angeles has its share of lawsuits as well.

Read the well-researched report here: Inside the fight against California’s charter schools

Filed Under: Community, Events Tagged With: Charter School, education, Jerry Brown

Colorado Has Longest Immigration Court Delay: 933 days, 9K cases pending

March 11, 2016 By CCM Staff

Demonstrating for immigrant rights in Arizona. Photo credit, Colorado Public Radio report, 3/3/16

Colorado Public Radio is reporting that the Mile High State “… now has the longest delays in the nation for immigrants trying to have their cases heard before an immigration judge. The average waiting period is 933 days, and there are 9,420 cases pending.”

The network asks Denver immigration attorney Jennifer Casey to explain the situation while noting that it “… could get worse given the immigration-crackdown rhetoric in this political campaign season.”
Her initial comment: “If you look at the immigration courts over the last three years in Colorado, what we’ve seen is a reduction by about 50 percent of the immigration judges here locally. So we went from six judges in 2013 and we’re now down to three judges in 2016.”

The attorney also offers some background: “So, 50 percent reduction in immigration judges, 20 percent increase in cases and then the third factor is that the immigration courts nationally have prioritized certain cases above other cases. So we’ve got a priority docket and those are individuals who have entered the U.S. recently, specifically since May of 2014, who are either unaccompanied children or families with children. Mostly we’re talking about women and children but not exclusively.”
Of course, she also notes that the long delays benefit those with weaker cases to remain in the United States while hurting those with the better cases, because they cannot get a court date to win legal status.

– See more at: Why Denver’s Immigration Court Has The Longest Hearing Delays In The US

Filed Under: Border Kids, Community Tagged With: Border Kids, Colorado, Denver, immigration court

CM Publisher Posts Veteran’s Asbestos Plight On HuffPo

March 9, 2016 By CCM Staff

Courts Monitor Publisher Sara Warner has posted to The Huffington Post about how asbestos cancer policy impacts U.S. veterans. She notes that “… every year, hundreds or even thousands of American veterans who thought they survived military service discover that they were wrong; exposure to asbestos was a mortal wound that took decades to surface, evolving into the much-advertised mesothelioma, a terminal cancer.

She adds that “… both sides also agree that the government under which those vets served excludes itself from the resulting accountability, at least in the U.S. courts. What they do not agree upon is how to fix it, and the resulting debate has left veterans taking sides.”

Read the post here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-warner/a-sad-truth-for-veterans_b_9417622.html

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: asbestos, garlock, huffington post, mesothelioma, sara warner, Sara Warner Huffington Post

Judge Says Toddlers Can Grasp Law, Represent Themselves

March 8, 2016 By CCM Staff

A child of migrant workers in Five Points, Calif. Judge Jack Weil says his comments on youths defending themselves in immigration court were “taken out of context.” (Photo Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times Report, 3/6/16)

A federal immigration judge in Virginia, who helps train other such judges, is making headlines for asserting that even toddlers can defend themselves in court without counsel. The Los Angeles Times is among those quoting from a court transcript that is part of an ACLU case: “I’ve taught immigration law literally to 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of patience,” Judge Jack Weil said. ‘They get it. It’s not the most efficient, but it can be done.'”

The LAT duly notes that “… in immigration court, there is no guarantee of counsel for adults or children. Advocates for immigrants have long argued that a person’s ability to make informed decisions — and their chances of being allowed to stay in the U.S. — are enhanced if an attorney represents them.”

The story also offers this context: “A total of 20,455 unaccompanied youths were caught at the border from October through the end of January, more than double the number during the same period the previous year, which also saw an increase over the year before that, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Youths started streaming in large numbers across the border illegally during the summer of 2014.”

Read the fallout here: http://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/la-na-immigration-judge-20160306-story.html

Filed Under: Border Kids, Community Tagged With: Federal immigration, Judge Jack Weil, Justice Department

High-Profile Civil Lawsuit Sours 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service

March 7, 2016 By CCM Staff

Courts Monitor Publisher Sara Warner has written about some of the controversies plaguing the National Park Service in its 100th anniversary year. Everything from sexual harassment by NPS Grand Canyon river guides (complete with up-skirt photography charges and withholding food for sex), to the Office of Inspector General compelling National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis to receive monthly ethics training for the rest of his career, to a contract dispute with a former long-time concessionaire is souring what was to be a year-long victory lap by the NPS. It’s at The Huffington Post here: For Parks Service, Yosemite Re-naming Is Latest Shock In 100th Birthday Year.

Filed Under: Cases, Community Tagged With: civil litigation, contract disputes, Delaware North, Grand Canyon, Jon Jarvis, National Parks Service, trademarks, Yosemite

California Ruling Allows ‘Default’ Homeowners To Sue Over Foreclosure

March 2, 2016 By CCM Staff

Experts said it’s highly unlikely that former homeowners could unravel their foreclosures and win back their houses. Above, advocacy group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment holds a news conference in Carson in 2012. (Photo Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court has ruled that some former homeowners can sue for wrongful foreclosure even if they were in default on their loans. A Los Angeles Times story quotes Katherine Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine and a former monitor for a national settlement over foreclosure abuses: “They opened the courthouse doors.”

During the recent home foreclosure crisis, tales of “robo-signing” emerged when employees of mortgage firms signed off on foreclosure documents even though they had no authority to do so. Troubled borrowers were often bounced around to various employees who gave different answers. The court ruled, in effect, that homeowners facing the resulting chaos may have been wrongly evicted – previously, courts had ruled that those people had no standing because they were in default on their loans.

It remains unclear how many people will be effected, but experts told the Times that it might be tens of thousands. California now joins other states where such challenges are allowed, including Ohio, Massachusetts and Texas. Read the Times story here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-foreclosure-ruling-20160302-story.html

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: california courts, California Supreme Court, home foreclosure

Wisconsin High Court Asks For Study On ‘Civil Gideon’ Options

February 24, 2016 By CCM Staff

Saying it recognizes that thousands of its citizens are unable to afford legal services in civil cases, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is asking the state Joint Legislative Council to study how to improve legal access for those who cannot afford a lawyers. The Council’s role is to establish special committees to study major issues and recommend legislation every two years.

The Wisconsin Bar Association website reports that “… the court notes it has considered several other rule changes over the years to increase access to civil legal services, including a so-called Civil Gideon petition, which would require courts to appoint counsel in certain civil cases. The court acknowledged the need for increased legal services but did not approve the Civil Gideon petition for lack of funding. Funding remains an issue for the court system.” The “Civil Gideon” movement, led by programs in San Francisco and New York, is the idea that certain civil cases should include a right to an attorney similar to that provided criminal defendants. It is named after a landmark case that made criminal representation the law of the land.

In its press release last week. the court noted that one objective of a proposed Wisconsin Joint Legislative Council study committee would be to “brainstorm other possible sources of assistance and help to plan the most effective means of delivering services.” Read more at the WisBar website: State Supreme Court Seeks Legislative Study on Access to Civil Legal Services.

Filed Under: Community, National Tagged With: Civil gideon, civil legal services, right to an attorney, Wisconsin Bar Association, Wisconsin Supreme Court

Thousands in St. Louis land in ‘debtor prisons’ for not paying a court fee

February 23, 2016 By CCM Staff

The Atlantic magazine has a new report out about “debtor prisons” in the St. Louis area, and it’s nothing short of alarming. The story by Whitney Benne and Blake Strode traces the problem all the way back to the pre-Civil War Dred Scott decision and includes details about how fairly routine municipal tickets – like for “saggy pants” – end up putting people in jail.

The report notes that “… as the recent deluge of reports and litigation confirms, and many have long known, thousands of people throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area are routinely sent to jail because they cannot pay local court fines and fees. These people are poor, and they tend to be black. While there are many terms to describe this—including, importantly, unconstitutional, —there is one with historical resonance reserved for such a practice: debtors’ prison.

The offer background: “… today, the ‘debts’ that lead to incarceration take the form of monetary penalties established and enforced by municipal courts. For many people throughout the St. Louis region, the nightmare of debtors’ prison is a recurring one: Each time a payment or court date is missed, the court issues another warrant, and the individual is subject to arrest, jail, and additional fines and court fees.

It is a case study in how the “gray area” of government activity, in this case charges that are serious enough to land you in jail but not “criminal” in the sense you have a right to an attorney, end up with significant jail time. Prepare your outrage meter and read the entire report: Debtors’ Prison in 21st-Century America.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: civil court, civil rights, court fees, debtor prisons, st. louis

Dallas Newspaper Reports From ‘Chaos’ Of Backlogged Immigration Court

February 22, 2016 By CCM Staff

The Dallas Morning News has an important new report on the U.S. Immigration Court backlog, highlighting the case of a Korean man who “… has been in America long enough to raise two sons and run a family-owned doughnut shop in Irving. After years of worrying, he thinks he’s about to find out his fate. Things look promising. But [the judge] sets a merit hearing for Dec. 6, 2017.”

Reporter Dianne Solis makes the point that the man is “… caught in an immigration court system that is bursting with huge caseloads and stressed by a seemingly endless shortage of judges. The U.S. immigration court backlog is at a record 474,000 cases — nearly triple the number from a decade ago. The average case now takes two years to wind through the courts. Some can take five.”
One interesting think is that the report notes that the Immigration Court backlog “annoys both the political left and right. U.S. Rep. Jack Ratcliffe, R-Heath, called it a ‘de facto amnesty’ at a recent congressional hearing. Immigrants live in the U.S. for years waiting to find out whether they can, well, live in the U.S.”

But, the report continues, “… Democrats complain that the courts need more money to operate smoothly. The nation’s immigration courts have long functioned like an orphaned child of the immigration system. The courts’ budget equals about 2 percent of total federal funding for immigration law enforcement this fiscal year. Underfunding the courts ‘undermines justice,’ U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said at the same hearing.”

The DMN also backgrounds that Immigration Court is civil, so there’s no guarantee of an attorney as their would be in criminal court. That’s important because, Solis notes, “… an unrepresented immigrant has a greater chance of losing, of being ordered removed from the U.S. That came into harsh light recently with the surge of Central American mothers with children. In a study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse University nonprofit, of such cases, about a quarter of those who were represented by attorneys were allowed to stay in the U.S. Only 1.5 percent of those who didn’t have attorneys were allowed to stay.”
The story is basically an indictment of the whole Immigration Court process with the only good point being a promise of more judges soon if certain things work out.

Read it here: Chaos, backlogs straining immigration courts

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: california courts backlog, california legal news, immigration courts, U.S. Immigration