Bail reform has been the subject of debate in California in 2017 with the introduction of twin bills in both houses of the Legislature, Senate Bill 10 and Assembly Bill 42.  SB 10, introduced by Senator Bob Hertzberg, relating to bail and pretrial release, would “declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, and to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail.”  This measure passed the Senate in May, however its companion version, ... Read More >

Recently, the California Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling by the lower court on the controversial issue of the right of publicity that many had deemed to be dangerous for many digital giants like Facebook and Linked-In. The right of publicity, also known as personality rights, is best understood as the right of an individual to prevent their image, name, or likeness from being used in a commercial capacity. The concept has been a part of California state legislative history since the Civil Code Section 3344 was enacted in 1971, but the digital age has introduced new challenges to what is and is not considered commercial ... Read More >

Federal regulations can be incredibly complex, but the law can become even more complicated on the state level. Legislation can vary wildly depending on where you are in the nation. For more than 100 years, state courts have used the idea of legislative intent to interpret state law. Sometimes, these state rules can be confounding and downright strange. This is especially true when it comes to cannabis legislation. Many new state rules have been passed in recent years pertaining to marijuana use, businesses, and marketing. Here are five of the weirdest and wackiest marijuana laws in state legislative history. Nevada: Watch Your ... Read More >

In the United States, we can relish in the fact that every state follows the same constitutional principles to protect their citizens. While state laws differ for every state across the nation, there are specific principles in place that protect the rights of every single American citizen. In fact, the United States pioneered this revolutionary form of constitutional democracy. However, it is important to note that some states have especially bizarre state laws that are quite different than any other state, and the Golden State is no exception. Considering that 15 years ago California lawmakers decided that the public has a right to gain ... Read More >

“Life is like riding a bicycle: you don’t fall off unless you stop pedaling.” -- Claude Pepper Given that our offices here at Legislative Intent Service, Inc. in Woodland, California are located next door to the university town of Davis, which prides itself on being the bicycle capital of the world (as well as home to the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame), we thought we might “gear up” our clients with this update on recent California legislation affecting the cycling community. Have you ever found yourself staring in awe at a cyclist blowing through a stop sign and thinking to yourself, “Wow, that person just broke the law!” but ... Read More >