In the June 2021 case of Miller v. Bonta, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California held that California statutes which restrict the use of assault weapons violate the Second Amendment.  However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently stayed the lower court’s ruling pending appeal proceedings.  Thus, the State’s assault…

In Lange v. California, the United States Supreme Court held that an officer’s pursuit of a fleeing misdemeanor suspect does not categorically justify a warrantless entry into a home.  Instead, as per Supreme Court precedent, a case-by-case assessment of exigency is required when deciding whether a suspected misdemeanant’s flight justifies a warrantless home entry. Background…

In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the United States Supreme Court in Caniglia v. Strom rejected a lower court’s broad interpretation of the “community caretaking exception,” which erroneously extrapolated a previous Supreme Court case’s statement regarding the exception to warrantless search and seizure in a home context under the specific facts of this case. Background During…

In Tobias v. Arteaga, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the denial of qualified immunity for officers with regards to a plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process claim.  The Court held that detectives interrogating a minor suspect in a murder investigation were entitled to qualified immunity because it was not clearly established that their…

In Oakland Police Officers’ Ass’n v. City of Oakland, the California First District Court of Appeal concluded that the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights, Government Code Section 3303(g) does not require automatic disclosure of reports and complaints prior to any further interrogation of an officer under investigation.  Instead, the investigating agency’s disclosure obligations…

A recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has garnered attention and, in the process, created some confusion about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and obligations to make websites accessible for people with disabilities. Much of the confusion stems from distinct sets of rules stemming from Title II and Title III of…

The First District Court of Appeal in Collondrez v. City of Rio Vista, (2021) 61 Cal. App. 5th 1039, issued a decision in which a settlement agreement following a disciplinary action involving a peace officer promised confidentiality in the internal investigative documentation which led to the discipline.  The Court of Appeal determined that SB 1421…

In Young v. Hawaii, the en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an unfettered, general right to openly carry arms in public.  In reaching its conclusion, the Court concluded that the State of Hawaii’s restrictions on the open carrying of firearms reflect longstanding prohibitions, and therefore, the…