Jonathan Bilyk News
'California Knows Best:' SCOTUS says California can use Prop 12 to regulate pork producers across the country
Dissenting justices warned California should now expect other states to respond in kind, following California's "blueprint" to use state laws and market power to bypass Congress and bend the rest of the country to the will of voters in just one or a handful of states
Lawsuit: California 10-day gun purchase waiting period law violates Second Amendment
A lawsuit was filed May 1 against the state, asserting the state has no right under the Constitution to force Californians who pass background checks to wait 10 days to obtain firearms they need for "immediate self-defense"
Berkeley, other state, local govts can't use building codes to ban natgas, sidestep federal law
A federal appeals court says the same law that bars cities and states from banning the use of natural gas appliances also extends to blocking building codes that would ban new gas lines
Environmental activists sue, demand PG&E close Diablo Canyon nuke plant, despite state power supply problems
Nuclear reactors generate no "greenhouse gas emissions," yet Friends of the Earth says PG&E must shutter the plant under the terms of a deal reached in 2016, allegedly to promote public safety and combat climate change
Appeals court: Bird Rides must immediately retrieve e-scooters from sidewalks, or face ruinous 'public nuisance' lawsuits
A divided California state appeals panel says it doesn't matter if scooter rental company Bird Rides has abided by its city permits. If the scooter is left by anyone on a sidewalk, they could face a torrent of personal injury suits for allegedly causing a public nuisance
Appeals panel: Jehovah's Witness should get chance to argue California Loyalty Oath violates her religious rights
A woman, who is an adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith, says the state Controller's Office discriminated against her on the basis of religion, when it refused to hire her when she declined to sign a Loyalty Oath to the state she said would force her to violate her religious beliefs
Judge OKs $725M Facebook data privacy settlement; Attorneys could ask for $181M
The settlement documents don't yet indicate how much money individual U.S. Facebook users may expect from the deal, but it could be less than $10 each
Appeals panel revives Prop 22, says California constitution doesn't block voter initiatives regarding gig workers
The First District Court of Appeals ruled the California constitution invests voters with the same powers to govern workers' comp as the state legislature, meaning voters can overrule lawmakers and classify app-based drivers for Uber, Doordash and similar companies as independent contractors
Appeals panel blocks AB51, says anti-arbitration law represents try by state to skirt federal law, prior court rulings
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the threat of criminal and civil penalties against employers served to deter employers from forming arbitration agreements with workers, violating federal law
Ninth Circuit asks Cal Supreme Court to decide if French Laundry can win Covid insurance coverage
Exclusive Napa restaurant - cite of infamous Covid-era dinner party that helped spark recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom - is asking courts to order Hartford Insurance to reimburse it for losses suffered under Newsom's Covid shutdown orders
Ninth Circuit: Alaska Airlines can't ground class action saying airline is illegally not paying pilots on military service
The class action lawsuit asserts federal law requires Alaska Airlines to pay reservist pilots for their time on short-term military service, just as it pays pilots om sick leave, jury duty or bereavement
Cal Supreme Court: Defendants sued under state political transparency law must show suit was 'frivolous' to net atty fees
The state high court said Redondo Beach's mayor and others who beat a lawsuit over claims they didn't properly disclose their identities when pushing a referendum over a waterfront development must do more to get $897K attorney fees from the people who sued them
Judge blocks state from using new law to go after doctors who may disagree with 'scientific consensus' on Covid
A federal judge in Sacramento said the law, AB2098, was unconstitutionally vague, because it allows the Medical Board to rely on an "ill-defined ... scientific consensus" to determine if doctors can be disciplined or even barred from practicing medicine in California
Appeals panel: Utility-owned property can be taxed at higher rates than other property
AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile had sought millions of dollars in refunds from Santa Clara County, arguing they had been overtaxed under the California state constitution
Judge: Olly can't shake class action claiming too much melatonin in supplements
The judge said the class action lawsuit isn't preempted by federal law or FDA regulations. Olly claimed the lawsuit seeks to set an illegal upper limit on how much vitamins and minerals can be included in supplements
Facebook will pay $550M to settle Illinois photo tag class action brought by Edelson, other firms
Facebook has agreed to pay $550 million to settle one of the first and largest class actions launched under an Illinois biometrics privacy law.
Lead paint makers lose another round In long-running, $1.1 billion California lawsuit
In ruling that three paint manufacturers have known since the early 20th Century of the danger the use of lead paint inside homes posed to children, a California appeals court has upheld the bulk of a judge’s reasoning in ordering the paint companies to pay more than $1 billion for their alleged contributions to a “public nuisance” caused by the continued presence of lead paint in old homes.
$1B 'retroactive liability' lead paint case vs paint makers could pave way for overreach, appeals panel told
Lawyers for three current and former paint manufacturers on the hook for a $1.15 billion judgment over the presence of lead paint in more than 3 million California homes have asked a California appeals court to overturn that judgment, saying the judge overreached and trespassed on legal turf more properly reserved for lawmakers, and to rule otherwise would open a virtual Pandora’s box of further judicial abuses and other unforeseen harms on homeowners, businesses and taxpayers, alike.
Oral arguments set Aug. 24 in $1.15 billion lead paint public nuisance case
SAN JOSE – Nearly three years ago, a California judge ordered a group of three paint makers to pay $1.15 billion to 10 California cities and counties to remediate what the judge decided was the “public nuisance” of lead paint in homes.