On April 23, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, in Rhode v. Becerra,[1] granted the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction enjoining what the Court called California’s “onerous and convoluted new laws” requiring ammunition purchase background checks and implementing ammunition anti-importation laws.  Writing for the Southern District, Judge Roger T….

On April 22, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-54-20 (“the Order”) in which are addressed the suspension for sixty (60) days the period within which to perform certain duties.  Among these, at paragraphs 1 through 7, are time limits related to registration of vehicles, the most important of which are paragraphs 3 and 5…

In an 8-1 decision, in Kansas v. Glover,[1] the Supreme Court of the United States held that when an officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is driving the vehicle, an investigative traffic stop made after running a vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner’s driver’s license has been revoked is…

A recurrent question of late has been what, if any, information can be relayed to first responders – Police and Fire Emergency Medical Services (“EMS”) concerning potential COVID-19 exposure from a given person and/or location.  Fortunately, guidance has now been had from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an online bulletin received…

By Executive Order dated March 30, 2020, Governor Newsom extended the statute of limitations under Govt. Code §3304(d) by 60 days. Govt. Code §3304(d) reads in pertinent part[1] as follows: Except as provided in this subdivision and subdivision (g), no punitive action, nor denial of promotion on grounds other than merit, shall be undertaken for…

The pandemic circumstances we all face are placing tremendous demands on law enforcement personnel. Among organizational priorities is determining how to apply law enforcement authority under conditions not ordinarily encountered during general agency operations.  This alert is intended to bring together statutory authority and Executive Orders as an accessible reference for law enforcement leaders. Existing…

In January 2020 in the case of Becerra v. Superior Court[1], the California First District Court of Appeal held that California Penal Code section 832.7, as recently amended by SB 1421, generally requires in response to a California Public Records Act request the disclosure of all responsive records in the possession of the California Department…

In January 2020, the California Fourth District Court of Appeals in City of Huntington Beach v. Becerra[1] held that Section 7284.6 of the California Values Act (Government Code section 7284 et seq. (the “CVA”)) is constitutional as applied to charter cities because Section 7284.6 addresses matters of statewide concern, is reasonably related to resolution of…