california courts

California Considers Raising Famous Med-Mal Cap

October 14, 2014 By CCM Staff

After failing in the Democrat-controlled legislature several times, advocates of raising the California medical malpractice damages from $250,000 to $1 million are going directly to voters. “Proposition 46,” explains public radio station KPVR, which also explains that the proposition “… is actually three measures in one. It would require drug testing of doctors. It would require physicians to check a database before prescribing patients addictive substances. And it would raise the limit on damages awarded in medical malpractice suits…”

The NPR affiliate reports that the current cap “… was set in 1975 under MICRA – The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. Prop 46 would raise the cap to over a million dollars. Dr. Haskins says that would make medical liability premiums go up.”

Read both sides of the debate, and what it might mean to medical practice in the Golden State, here: Proposition 46 Has Physicians and Attorneys At Odds

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California, california courts, medical liability, medical malpractice, Prop 46, tort, tort reform

‘Kafka’s’ Immigration Trials Spark State and National Response

October 9, 2014 By CCM Staff

CCM’s publisher, Sara Warner, has another post up on Huffington Post regarding the Border Kids legal representation issue. Take a look!

Filed Under: Border Kids, Community, Courts Budget, National Tagged With: border children, border crisis, Border Kids, California Budget, california courts, civil court, Department of Justice, detention, DHHS, Gov. Jerry Brown, Homeland Security, ICE, immigration, immigration reform, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, refugee children, Superior Court

Most ‘Border Kids’ Show Up For Court

October 8, 2014 By CCM Staff

It’s been a nagging part of the “border kids” immigration crisis: How many of those children actually show up for court? Especially since many are sent to live with relatives and may have court dates set months into the future – easy enough to miss. A new government report, covered in the Wall Street Journal, says that “… the vast majority of migrants who recently entered the U.S. illegally are showing up for their scheduled deportation hearings, even as the government said most adults who arrived with children have skipped separate required check-ins with immigration offices.”

Reports the WSJ: “Between July 18 and Sept. 30, about 85% of unaccompanied minors showed up for a scheduled first hearing, and about two-thirds of adults with children appeared, according to data obtained from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency that oversees the nation’s immigration courts. The agency said on July 18 that it would expedite deportation hearings for the two groups, following the Obama administration’s decision to prioritize their cases to discourage further illegal immigration.”

About 30,000 unchaperoned children and 40,000 people entering in family units flocked to the U.S. during a surge of such immigrants between May and August this year, the latest month available, said the WSJ, adding that “… that surge has since subsided.” Some states and the federal government have allotted millions of dollars to provide legal representation for the border kids, who are not provided with lawyers because the violations are potentially civil, not criminal.

Read the WSJ report here.

Jails Refusing ICE Requests On Immigration Holds

October 6, 2014 By CCM Staff

“Emboldened by recent court rulings, more and more counties and cities across the country are refusing to jail inmates extra days to give federal authorities time to deport them,” reports Governing Magazine in an important trend story from the civil immigration wars, adding that “… in most jails until recently, inmates booked on criminal charges and suspected of being in the country illegally were often held for an additional 48 hours at the behest of federal immigration officials.”

Governing explains that “.. these ‘holds’ created a pipeline for the deportation of thousands of people from the United States in the last decade. Now, that enforcement tool is crumbling. Although some localities started limiting the number of immigration holds a few years ago, the trend of completely ignoring the requests gathered steam this spring after a series of federal court rulings determined that the immigration holds are not mandatory and that local agencies should not be compelled to follow them.”

In California, for example, a new state law this year orders that Golden State law enforcement can only honor immigration holds if the inmate has been charged with a “serious” crime. And Governing reports that “… most law enforcement agencies in the state — including the Los Angeles Police Department — adopted policies ignoring the immigration holds altogether after the federal rulings came down.” And Colorado this year became the first state to pass a law compelling local agencies to ignore immigration-detain requests.

In all, Governing says more than 225 local law enforcement agencies nationwide have adopted policies to completely ignore requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials for the 48-hour holds.

Read the story, and the immigration enforcement response, here: More and More Localities Rejecting Federal Deportation Requests

In S.F., Court Clerks Ready To Strike

October 3, 2014 By CCM Staff

The court clerk strike talk in San Francisco Superior Court is getting serious. The Courthouse News Service reports that a poll “… showed that two-thirds of the 251 members of local court chapter of Service Employees International Local 1021 are ready to walk out if their demand for a pay raise goes unanswered. Out of the 186 clerk who filled out strike ballots, 169 voted to authorize a strike.

The clerks and court management are apparently deadlocked over wages. As background, the CN notes that “…. in July 2011, faced with statewide court budget cuts of $350 million, then-Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein announced that 200 court workers at San Francisco Superior Court would lose their jobs in a belt-tightening that would also result in closed courtrooms, reduced public access and trial delays. In the end, San Francisco closed 11 courtrooms, laid off 67 employees, mainly court reporters. The court also imposed work furloughs and shortened its operating hours.”

The San Francisco Superior Court’s head clerk, Michael Yuen, says that any strike would be considered illegal because of no-strike wording in the latest labor contract. Read more here: Courthouse News Service

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California, california courts, Labor news, San Francisco, strike, Superior Court

Lawyers Stepping Up to Volunteer Time For Border Kids: “They Have a Right to Due Process”

October 2, 2014 By CCM Staff

It turns out that American’s lawyers are stepping up for those Border Kids who are not guaranteed representation at immigration court. The Wall Street Journal reports that across the country hundreds of lawyers who are experts in other fields are taking crash courses in immigration and representing the children, who are mostly unaccompanied minors from Central America.

The WSJ reports that “… since late July, when a wave of Central American minors surged at the border, lawyers who regularly bill hundreds of dollars an hour have been packing training sessions to learn immigration law and take on the children’s cases. Legal-aid organizations call it an unprecedented response by this group of attorneys… the effort leaves the firms open to criticism from conservative activists who say the minors should be returned to their home countries. But the attorneys say the children, who aren’t entitled to a public defender, have a right to due process.”

The story quotes Simona Agnolucci, a San Francisco lawyer specializing in complex litigation who is representing tech giant Google Inc. in several cases, who also volunteers at an immigration court each Thursday. She screens immigrants without legal representation to assess whether they have a viable asylum claim for a pro bono attorney to take. “I am fortunate to have clients in favor of this work,” said the Keker & Van Nest lawyer. Google said it had nothing to add to her comments.

The story also notes that more than half the children with lawyers stay in the U.S. and nine of ten without a lawyer are deported. Read the report and details about federal and state moves here: New Mission for Lawyers: Free Aid to Young Immigrants

Feds Find $9 Million For Border Kids Lawyers

October 1, 2014 By CCM Staff

Following the leadership of immigration-friendly cities like New York and San Francisco, and on the heels of California stepping up with $3 million in legal aid for unaccompanied minors, the federal government announced that it will spend $9 million for “border kid” representation starting immediately.

The Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that the Department of Health and Human Services will provide the money to two refugee organizations that help the unaccompanied children from Central America. They are the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Advocates for increased representation for the border kids argue that most of those with legal aid get to remain in the country while most of those facing Justice Department courts on their own are deported.

Read the WSJ story here.

Amid Gridlock, California Comes To Border Kids Representation Rescue

September 29, 2014 By CCM Staff

The U.S. Congress inactive due to gridlock and campaign season. President Obama inactive, while cynically delaying action until after November’s midterm voting. The Justice Department relatively inactive over the very immigration court system it manages as the U.S. attorney general resigns. But the state of California is stepping up, setting aside $3 million for immediate legal assistance to the tens of thousands of Central American children showing up to see refuge in the United States.

Gov. Brown signed the law over the weekend and it includes assistance to keep some students in school who “defied” authority. In a Los Angeles Times story, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who backed the measure, said that “… the $3 million to help the immigrant children, said, will provide due process in the United States that will rescue some of them from the “virtual death sentence” they would face if deported to unsafe home countries.” Later, she added in a statement that “… with the stroke of a pen, Governor Brown reaffirmed California’s commitment to doing its part to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis at [the] border involving Central American youth.”

Read the Times story, which also covers other legislation signed ahead of Tuesday’s end-of-month deadline, here: Gov. Brown signs bills aiding immigrant children, troubled students

Filed Under: Border Kids, Community, Courts Budget, Refugee Children Tagged With: border children, border crisis, Border Kids, California Budget, california courts, civil court, Department of Justice, detention, Gov. Jerry Brown, Homeland Security, ICE, immigration, immigration reform, refugee children, Superior Court

‘Jerk Bill’ Takes Aim At Attorney Bad Behavior

September 24, 2014 By CCM Staff

A business-backed bill that takes aim at certain attorney behavior, typically tactics that show disrespect or are designed to delay the courts, has been signed into law by Gov. Brown, the Sacramento Business Journal is reporting. Backers of the bill argued that, along with giving judges a tool to regulate attorneys, the new law will conserve court resources.

The BizJ quotes the president of the Civil Justice Association of California, or CJAC, saying that “…prior to this bill, courts had tools to sanction lawyers who brought frivolous lawsuits but not sanctions if they behaved badly,” said . “Now, if the filing is legit, but the lawyer is behaving like a jerk, the court can smack them with the other side’s legal fees.”

Read the report here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2014/09/24/governor-signs-bill-frivolous-court-behavior-calif.html

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: "bad Attorney", ABA, California Bar Association, california courts, Civil Courts, civil justice, Civil Justice Association of California, Gov. Jerry Brown, Legal news

State Supreme Court To Decide Who Can Sue California

September 23, 2014 By CCM Staff

The California Supreme Court has agreed to consider if the 105-year-old California law that allows taxpayers to sue state and local over their policies applies to all residents or just to property owners, according to the San Francisco Chronicle website SFGate.

Explains the report: “The state’s high court has never defined the criteria for a taxpayer suit. That issue arose in San Rafael, where Cherrity Wheatherford, a renter and a U.S. citizen, tried to sue over a police practice of impounding cars for 30 days when their drivers lacked licenses. She claimed they were unfairly punishing undocumented immigrants. In May, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco dismissed Wheatherford’s suit because she owns no property in the city or county. Taxpayer suits, the court said, are limited to those who pay property taxes in the jurisdiction, which leaves out residents who pay only income, gas or sales taxes.”

Read the story here: California Supreme Court to decide who gets to sue government

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: california courts, interesting news, Legal news, legal standing, municipal, Property rights, property taxpayers, taxpayers