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Author: Joshua Thompson On Friday, July 2, I will be in the Sacramento Superior Court arguing the case of Connerly v. Schwarzenegger.   Pacific Legal Foundation is representing Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Foundation in their challenge regarding the constitutionality of various public contracting statutes.  This case arose after t ...

In 1978, California voters passed Proposition 13, a property tax relief initiative.  Hailed as a “modern Boston Tea party,” Proposition 13 amended the state Constitution to substantially alter California’s system of taxation.  It limited property taxes to 1% of the value of property, prohibited the assessed value of property fro ...

Yesterday, PLF filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Young v. Schmidt.  This is the case that challenges Proposition 13’s requirement that all new taxes imposed by the state Legislature pass by a two-thirds vote.  As discussed, Charles Young—the plaintiff in the case and former UCLA chancellor—has argued that this section of Proposition ...

Today in Young v. Schmidt the California Court of Appeal upheld Proposition 13’s requirement that all state taxes pass by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.  In a terse, unpublished opinion, the court struck down former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young’s attempt to overturn this part of Proposition 13.  Young had argued that the super ...

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 m ...

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 ...

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 o ...

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 ...

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 scho ...