Articles

In early May, the Los Angeles Court of Appeal issued a decision in Cesar Baez v. California Public Employees' Retirement System.  The decision is, for the most part, unremarkable.  But there is one controversial section that, contrary to existing case law, severely limits protections adopted by the voters in Proposition 209 in 1996. ...

Tomorrow morning I will be arguing in Contra Costa Superior Court against an illegal tax levied against new homeowners by the City of San Ramon, California. San Ramon used California's Mello-Roos Act, the purpose of which is to fund new public facilities and new public services, to impose a parcel tax of more than $500 on select homeowners (above a ...

As reported earlier on the Liberty Blog, the Superior Court for Los Angeles County issued a decision striking down three California statutes that relate to employment of California's public school teachers.  The lawsuit was brought by Students Matter on behalf of several California public school students and their guardians ad litem. The State of ...

The California Supreme Court this week denied review in Mission Springs Water District v. Verjil, a case our friends at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association litigated.  Not only did the Court deny review, it did so in record time—a single day—before PLF had time to file a letter brief urging the Court to take the case.  This is unfortunate ...

We often get asked here at PLF why there isn't school choice in California.  The answer I usually give is that Californians do have some choices in education.  Californians, of course, have one of the most robust charter school laws in the country.  Further, California law permits transfers from one public school district to another school dis ...

PLF colleague Jennifer Fry recently posted on the frustrations of a Sacramento family after their home burned down.  FEMA's de-certification of the levees protecting their neighborhood resulted in a building moratorium that prevents the Taylors from rebuilding their fire-destroyed home, even though they have insurance to do so.  But what if th ...

We have previously reported on the Tuolumne Jobs case, an important appellate decision expanding CEQA and diminishing California voters' constitutional right of initiative.  The Tuolumne Jobs decision broke with precedent and held that a city counsel was required to prepare an environmental impact report under CEQA before it could adopt an ordinan ...

We previously reported on the decision from California's Fifth Appellate District in the case of Tuolumne Jobs, holding that CEQA applies to local voter initiatives under certain circumstances.  Earlier this month, the real parties in interest in the case, James Grinnell, Wal-Mart Stores, and the City of Sonora, filed petitions for review in the ...

In light of the Court's recent, disappointing decision in the Pacific Palisades Coastal Commission case, it's encouraging to note when the Court got it right in Young v. Schmidt.  This was the case brought by former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young challenging Proposition 13's legislative super-majority vote requirement.  Young maintained that Pro ...