GUEST COLUMNS
Thursday, June 23, 2022
The Fourteenth Amendment, enacted in 1868 after the Civil War, includes a provision that has received relatively little attention in the last 150 years.
Occasionally, the industry's internal disputes — mostly those over how to divvy up the revenue from movie tickets, recording sales and other products — make their way to the Capitol for resolution.
Changes loom if Manhattan Beach residents approve an initiative this fall to allow as many as two licensed cannabis businesses.
In Novartis Pharmaceuticals v. Accord Healthcare, HEC Pharm appealed the district court finding that the negative claim limitation "absent an immediately preceding loading dose" in U.S. Patent No. 9,187,405 satisfies the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112(a).
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
One of the most daunting issues for non-citizens seeking to become permanent residents or green card holders has been: whether the applicant "is likely to become a public charge."
It is a common misconception that someone who submits a complaint to the Commission on Judicial Performance must maintain confidentiality of the complaint and any ensuing CJP investigation. Nothing in the CJP's rules requires such confidentiality.
My criminal practice causes me to appear in court almost every day. Those experiences have led me to believe that judges and lawyers in California reflect the same divide as the population at large when it comes to the events of January 6.
Prisons in Norway and parts of Western Europe deemphasize the institutional aspects of incarcerated life. Prisoners get to wear their own clothes, cook their own food and have relative freedom of movement within the prison walls.
It might sound like Amsterdam, but these businesses appear to be part of the next wave of California's weed industry, which four years after legalization is still looking for ways to compete with the state's huge illegal pot market.
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
In the hands of the right producer, it would garner Oscars, a legacy and big bucks.
Lawyers who file such suits seek to expand opportunities for litigation, often in concert with other interests, such as unions and environmental activists.
End Poverty in California recently launched our statewide listening tour at the Young Women's Freedom Center in Los Angeles. Through 2022, we will visit communities experiencing poverty, hear community members' stories and ideas, and explore solutions.
The state's constitution currently prohibits involuntary servitude "except to punish crime" — allowing the state prison system to pay inmates as little as 8 cents an hour for jobs including food service, custodial work and construction, according to a legislative analysis. (Inmate firefighters, on whom California has long depended to fight wildfires across the state, earn between $1.45 and $3.90 per day, plus an extra $1 per hour in emergencies.)
Lawmakers are proposing creating a billion-dollar fund in this year's state budget that would provide California's first-time buyers either all of the money they need for a down payment, or very close to it, in exchange for partial ownership stakes in those residences.
Monday, June 20, 2022
Between now and next year, California taxpayers will pay about $54.5 million for the incentive payments, according to estimates by the Department of Finance.
Readers should consider the consequences when asked to support efforts to ban neonicotinoid pesticides such as Imidacloprid.
School Meals For All, which Gov. Gavin Newsom championed in the budget since its inception, in concert with state Sen. Nancy Skinner's legislative proposal, is the largest free-meals program in the country, providing breakfast and lunch for 5.9 million students — many of whom depend on school food for the bulk of their nutrition, regardless of income.
Friday, June 17, 2022
UC Riverside gets $8,600 in state support for instruction of each student, well below the systemwide average of around $10,000.
Less than half of unique phone numbers calling the Employment Development Department's disability insurance branch call centers were answered on average between November 2021 and April 2022, according to department data. That's down from about 80% between May and October of 2021.
If you're providing support to aging parents – or plan to in the future – here is some advice on how to handle the situation and prepare for what's to come.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
The start of the next fiscal year looms on July 1, less than three weeks away. Yet the budget process will likely extend well beyond that date, as lawmakers pass follow-up measures amending provisions of their spending plan to reflect compromises with the governor.
The Ninth Circuit recently tackled this issue in AK Futures LLC v. Boyd Street Distro, LLC (decided May 19, 2022), a case that involved e-cigarette and vaping products derived from cannabis.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Attorney General Rob Bonta, schools Supt. Tony Thurmond and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will face only token re-election opposition in the November election.
Two private universities in California, Touro and Oakland's Samuel Merritt University, hope to help. They received three-year federal grants — worth $2 million at Samuel Merritt and about $1.6 million at Touro — to create burnout-prevention programs, part of a $103 million nationwide effort to retain more health care workers.
In the past two years, state and federal lawmakers passed an array of measures that allocated $33.5 billion in one-time funds to California's K-12 schools to address the pandemic's impacts. With no central accounting for that unprecedented infusion of cash, CalMatters spent three months examining stimulus spending at select school districts.
Tuesday's overwhelming vote to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin in deep-blue San Francisco should serve as a wake-up call for every Democrat who cares about the credibility of the party on the issue of public safety.
The average Californian used 83 gallons of water per day in April, compared with 73 in April 2020.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Prior to 2012, California had a closed primary system in which registered voters of the two major parties separately chose their parties' candidates to face each other in the general election.
It's a disturbing trend that is entrenched in our electoral system, with no signs of changing.
Based on voter registration, it was widely expected that Lanhee Chen, the sole Republican in the race, would land one of two spots to advance to the general election.
Monday, June 13, 2022
The fact that it was largely women who stepped up to pick up the slack should surprise no one. For years, women have taken on the extra burdens associated with keeping their families functioning – even as they have balanced their own professional obligations.
Water board staff called the cutbacks "unprecedented," although similar curtailments were imposed in the watershed last year, just much later in the year, in August.
Last year, the Legislature provided a much-needed increase in the maximum award — to $9,220 from $9,084 — after two decades of cuts. More funding is needed, especially with the ever-growing costs of housing, food, child care and transportation.
It may seem odd to think about retirement savings when your child could still be wearing braces.
Friday, June 10, 2022
This decision dramatically increases the value of meal and rest period claims in class actions and representative actions under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA).
The anti-abortion states will not be satisfied with an abortion ban defined by the state line. The writing is on the wall. The "aiding and abetting" provision of the Texas anti-abortion law can be used to target any person or organization that helps a woman travel to a state where abortion is legal.
The NRA doesn't care that children have died as a result of their politicking, and they're not even pretending they do anymore. What's a few more lives so long as the checks keep clearing?
If you are set to receive money or other assets from a loved one who has passed away, you may benefit from the counsel of a financial advisor, estate attorney and tax expert who can help you determine the best course of action to wisely manage the gift you've been given. Here are some factors you might want to consider with their help.
Bonta, a progressive Democrat appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, will likely face off in the November general election against one of two Republicans: Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who had 18%, or Eric Early, a lawyer to the right of Hochman with 16% of the vote.
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Now SCOTUS is looking to expand Second Amendment rights through its consideration of the pending case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Design patents protect only the appearance of the article, not any aspect of functionality.
With the passage of SB 300, people could not be sentenced to death or life without parole if they did not kill anyone or intend for anyone to die, though they still would be sentenced to at least 25 years to life. The bill also would allow judges to consider all circumstances, such as intimate-partner violence, abuse or trafficking, in their sentencing decisions.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Although we don't often associate climate change with buildings and construction, they are responsible for almost 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions, according to the United Nations. About 30% of these emissions come from building operations (primarily heating, cooling and lighting), and another 11% is "embodied" carbon, or carbon released during the construction process itself.
Four very recent situations both frame the housing dilemma and indicate that pro-housing pressures may be having some effect.
A poll published Friday by the Los Angeles Times and the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that he is running a distant third, the choice of 5% of voters, with Gov. Gavin Newsom well ahead of all his challengers in today's top-two primary.
California must invest some of its budget surplus in reopening the program and ensuring that communities of color have the support needed to apply successfully.
The San Francisco incident was the latest shooting investigated under Assembly Bill 1506, the 2021 law that compels police departments to turn over investigations of the killing of unarmed civilians to the state Department of Justice.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
A power struggle pits one faction of Democrats against another and, like any family feud, brings out the worst in everyone, rupturing the façade of camaraderie that politicians prefer to present — which is why it's so much fun to watch.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has raised more than 10 times as much money as all his other competitors combined, and he's earned endorsements from powerful teachers unions and interest groups, making him likely to glide easily into a second four-year term.
Friday, June 3, 2022
Here are some questions to help you explore your readiness to take on this additional financial obligation.
Newsom envisions universal access to pre-kindergarten care and education and transforming neighborhood schools into "community schools" that "partner with education, county, and nonprofit entities to provide integrated health, mental health, and social services alongside high-quality, supportive instruction, with a strong focus on community, family, and student engagement."
Thursday, June 2, 2022
While other automakers have had lawyers draw up dreamy names to call attention to the fact that the car won't drive itself, Tesla's Autopilot seems like a bold declaration by comparison.
Of course, but for the fallibility of human nature, there would be no need for laws, including those governing the workplace.
Affidavits filed by federal investigators describe a tightly knit clutch of political and business figures — self-described as a "cabal" in one intercepted message — that wields life and death influence on major financial issues.
Late Friday, just as legislators — and everyone else in the state — were preparing to check out for the long holiday weekend, an earthquake rocked the California political world: Assemblymember Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat, announced that he had "secured enough votes" to become the next speaker of the California Assembly.
Private colleges say that the current state hampers their ability to protect students — but some students worry that the proposed changes could make campuses feel cut off from surrounding neighborhoods and lead to racial profiling.
Plaintiff Munchkin sought to exclude the opinion of defendant TOMY's technical expert, Jesse Darley, who offered opinions regarding noninfringement.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Last week, the state Water Resources Control Board imposed a statewide ban on watering of "non-functional" turf, such as grass around commercial buildings, and directed local water agencies to implement water use restrictions.
Institutional environmentalist groups, which came of age largely before climate change was widely recognized as a global threat, have been pressuring governments to shut down zero-emissions nuclear power plants for decades.
Officials from the California State University Chancellor's Office warned the Board of Trustees on Tuesday that while it projects a net increase of nearly 29,000 students overall who'll receive the free-tuition grant, it would also see a decrease of roughly 39,000 future middle-class students — even as some 68,000 low-income students would be newly eligible for the grant.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
The predicted employment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds this summer is 32.8%, the highest since the summer of 2007, according to the annual summer job outlook for American teenagers published this month by the Drexel University Center for Labor Markets and Policy.
Friday, May 27, 2022
If an HSA is available to you, you may want to explore its potential benefits.
Nearly half of the surplus must, by law, go to schools.
Caltrans and regional transportation agencies receive federal and state funds not only to build and maintain, but also to develop highway and road improvements — doing the planning, public engagement, preliminary design, environmental and other work needed to get projects ready.
While the health advisories and Sacramento County Division of Public Health's press conference today are reminiscent of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say monkeypox is less transmissible than coronavirus and the disease tends to be less severe.
Though contributions made directly to political candidates are capped by state law, no such limits apply to "independent expenditure" committees — so long as those outside influences are, in fact, independent and don't coordinate with the campaigns they're trying to help.
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