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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dan Churney News


Appeals court: Black, Latino parents can resume lawsuit vs LA schools, LA teachers union for disciminatory Covid schooling policies

By Dan Churney |
An appellate panel has ruled a group of plaintiffs may continue their suit, which claimed Los Angeles school and union officials discriminated against students of color through remote-learning policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that although schools are back in session, academic damage to students could remain

Appeals judges: San Jose schools violated 'bedrock' religious freedom principles in shutting down Christian club

By Dan Churney |
San Jose Unified School District had claimed it revoked recognition for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes club out of concerns for anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Judges said the decision was rooted in anti-Christian bias, because the club required its leaders to agree with traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality

Appeals court: Judge wrongly denied injunction vs California open carry gun ban, needs to take another look

By Dan Churney |
A federal appeals panel has told a judge to quickly reexamine her refusal to stop California from barring residents from openly carrying guns, saying the judge failed to consider the merits of a constitutional challenge to the ban.

U.S. appeals court says LA cop gets qualified immunity against suit alleging he killed man to save partner

By Dan Churney |
Judges reversed earlier decision, now saying the police officers acted within their authority and out of legitimate fear for their lives

California High Court tells appeals panel to revisit whether Santa Monica's at-large voting weakens Latinos at the polls

By Dan Churney |
State Supreme Court has ordered an appellate court to reexamine its decision that an activist group failed to show Santa Monica's at-large voting system "dilutes" Latino voting power, saying the lower court did not undertake a "searching" evaluation of the issue.

Appeals panel says Michael Jackson's corporations could have allegedly protected boys from singer's alleged abuse

By Dan Churney |
An appellate court has ruled corporations wholly owned by late megastar Michael Jackson are on the hook for lawsuits claiming Jackson molested children, despite the corporations' assertions they were helpless to stop the alleged abuse because Jackson was the boss.

Appeals panel: Plaintiff can't 'borrow' insurer BCBS' financial loss to sue drug maker over dose sizes

By Dan Churney |
A California appellate court has ruled an unscathed plaintiff cannot "borrow" an injury from his insurance company, to press a suit against a San Francisco area pharmaceutical company for allegedly selling unnecessarily large dosages of anti-cancer drugs.

California Supreme Court says Monterey County can't barrel through a ban on oil drilling

By Dan Churney |
The California Supreme Court has tanked Monterey County's prohibition of oil and gas drilling, ruling the county's ban flies in the face of superseding state law that gives oversight of drilling to Sacramento.

California court says new law gives more time to lodge sex assault suits, in case vs Massage Envy franchisees

By Dan Churney |
A California appeals panel has ruled a new state law extends the statute of limitations for sexual battery suits, in a case involving a group of women whose suits alleged they were molested at massage spas, but which had been dismissed because they were filed late.

Appeals court: Domino's truckers may sue company, rather than arbitrate, over alleged labor law violations

By Dan Churney |
A federal appeals panel says a recent Supreme Court decision doesn't stop their reasoning that the truck drivers are exempted from federal arbitration law, because they are engaged in "interstate commerce," even though they never leave the state to make their deliveries

Split court says Chinese citizens may sue Cisco for allegedly helping Communists quash Falun Gong; Dissenting judge warns of 'serious' foreign policy ramifications

By Dan Churney |
A divided federal court has ruled a California-based technology company, which allegedly helped Chinese Communists crack down on a religious group, can be sued for its alleged involvement in that persecution, but a dissenting judge cautioned such a suit could imperil already tense relations between China and the United States.

California High Court says state law may shield police from lawsuits involving prosecutions, but not investigations

By Dan Churney |
The California Supreme Court has ruled the state's Government Claims Act provides immunity for officials in lawsuits alleging wrongful prosecutions, not investigations, in a suit asserting Riverside County sheriff's deputies left a partially nude murder victim in public view for eight hours while they investigated.

San Diego church says gov't shows 'religious hostility' in halting meal funds for preschool kids over gender ID dictates

By Dan Churney |
A San Diego area church-daycare is claiming it's unconstitutional for the federal and state governments to cut off meal subsidies for its children, because the church won't obey new gender identity mandates.

Appeals panel says San Buenaventura officials were allowed to strip historic protection status from Serra statue

By Dan Churney |
An appeals court has given its blessing to the city of San Buenaventura's removal of a statue of Catholic missionary Junipero Serra, ruling the statue has no historic status that would protect against removal.

Sour note: Judge says wrong for lawyers to pick up $1.7M in Napster case while clients get 'meager' payouts

By Dan Churney |
A federal court has ruled a judge was "unreasonable" in awarding $1.7 million in fees to lawyers who handled a copyright class action against music streamer Napster, which only netted their clients a "measly" $52K

California Supreme Court says public entities can't be sued for tripled damages in sex abuse suits that involve cover ups

By Dan Churney |
The California Supreme Court has ruled public bodies are exempt, under the Government Claims Act, from facing enhanced punitive damages in sex abuse suits allegedly involving cover-ups, saying compensatory damages are adequate to satisfy such plaintiffs.

Appeals panel: Judge can't bar U of C Berkeley from expanding campus, increasing enrollment

By Dan Churney |
An appellate court has ruled a judge cannot prohibit the University of California from increasing enrollment and enlarging its Berkeley campus to bring in more students and faculty, over the objections from an activist group that expansion will harm adjacent neighborhoods.

Appeals panel says Supreme Court ruling doesn't let alleged con artist slip out of $450M restitution

By Dan Churney |
A federal appeals court has refused to let an alleged get-rich-quick operator skate on paying back $450 million to victims, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affects such Federal Trade Commission cases does not affect his.

Federal appeals panel will give LA cop in shooting death of Albert Dorsey 2nd chance at arguing for qualified immunity from lawsuit

By Dan Churney |
With a new Republican-appointed judge added to a three-member federal appeals panel, the judges have tossed a previous appellate ruling that a Los Angles police officer cannot enjoy qualified immunity against a deadly force suit, agreeing to hear the case again.

California must pay legal fees for ex-government worker who got 'disability retirement' for allergy

By Dan Churney |
A California appeals panel has ruled the state must pay the legal fees for a former county employee, who sued for a disability retirement because she is unable to work at the Lakeport courthouse because of an allergy.