If you're doing law research in California, you might come across this interesting legislative gem: in Los Angeles County, you can only throw a frisbee when you have the permission of the lifeguard. Like any state, California has many strange laws and rules on record. California legislative history is complex, dating back to 1850, when the state became the 31st member of the union. Some Interesting Precedents You Might Come Across in California Legislative History Research 1946 -- Empire Star Mines v. California Employment Commission. This court decision made clear that the most important factor for determining independent contracting ... Read More >
Feb 14
CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY GRAND RE-OPENING – We were there!
The attorneys and staff at LIS attended the February 11, 2014 reopening ceremony commemorating the California State Library moving back into the newly renovated Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building. The library is located across the street from the state’s historic State Capitol. Enjoy the photos below -- sorry about the stamped date on my camera being 12 hours behind! Maria The renovations took four years of dedicated hard work by master architects, engineers, and technology experts to bring the 1928 neo-classical library building up to the 21st Century. The building now showcases murals and intricately painted ... Read More >
Feb 11
Four Helpful Documents for Determining Legislative Intent
The field of law covers so much ground, it can often be difficult to understand what one law or piece of legislation is attempting to communicate. For this reasons, legislative intent is a particularly tough nut to crack, as they say. If you tried to, however, the breakdown would be a bit like this. Laws are sometimes difficult to interpret for a number of reasons, most often because of the language that's been used to express them. Despite the legal profession's efforts to use precise wording and syntax via "legalese," not every law and statute reads perfectly and clearly to folks in later generations. When such a situation arises -- when ... Read More >
Jan 30
Unpredicted Bipartisanship Apparent in Federal Legislation Stats
In a revelation that there was more bipartisanship in Congress than realized, there are 2013 federal legislation statistics that seem to support a finding that all was not rancorous between the political parties and factions in Congress during the last congressional session. A report published by the Sunlight Foundation noted that while only 15 Senate bills and 41 House bills became law in 2013, Congress was less partisan than commonly believed. There were a total 5,584 bills from both chambers introduced in 2013, with six subjects as the main focus for at least 50% of them: health, armed forces/national security, taxation, public ... Read More >
Jan 30
CA RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES FOR ELDERLY REFORM ACT
In 2014, California legislators will be introducing legislative measures to overhaul California’s residential care facilities for the elderly [“RCFEs”] following an investigative series published in September of 2013 by the U-T San Diego regarding fatalities in San Diego County caused by neglect and state regulatory issues. Some of the legislated solutions proposed in these 14 bills, which are sponsored by the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform [“CANHR”], are summarized at the CANHR website. If these California bills progress successfully through their legislative process, we will be including them in our annual Compendium of ... Read More >
Jan 10
CA AB 1216 Permits Pupil Expulsion for Hate Conduct
When originally introduced in 2013, Assembly member Nora Campos’ bill related to pupil discipline and bullying. In the first amendments taken on this bill nearly one year later, the Assembly Committee on Education gutted and amended the content of the bill to address a different type of pupil discipline, relating to suspension and expulsion for hate violence. There are two main elements to AB 148: (1) Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion unless the superintendent of the school district or principal of the school determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts. ... Read More >