Opinion Analysis: People v. Gutierrez (S224724)

People v. Gutierrez

3 Aug, 2017

Opinion Analysis: People v. Gutierrez (S224724)

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The California Supreme Court’s opinion People v. Gutierrez, People v. Ramos, People v. Enriquez (S224724, hereinafter Gutierrez) issued on June 1, 2017,[1] has gained more than the usual media coverage for a criminal case.[2] Long-time SCOCA commentator Gerald Uelman was reported as calling the decision “dynamite” and “a profound change.”[3] In Gutierrez, the Court reversed a criminal conviction because it concluded that the prosecutor had excluded a prospective Hispanic juror because of her ethnicity, in violation of People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258 (Wheeler)[4] and Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 476 U.S. 79 (Batson).[5] In reviewing a Batson/Wheeler issue, appellate...

California’s Constitution is Not the Longest

California's Constitution is Not the Longest

24 Jun, 2017

California’s Constitution is Not the Longest

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Californians sometimes complain about the length of their state constitution and the frequency of its amendments. For example, on June 18, 2014, California Assembly member Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) wrote in a Los Angeles Times editorial: “[o]f the more than 200 written constitutions in the world, California’s is the third-longest.”[1] That’s not true. It’s not merely untrue, it’s wrong for several reasons. First, there are far more than 200 written constitutions currently in force worldwide. According to the Constitute Project, there are 191 active national charters. But there are even more subnational constitutions. Besides the 50 state constitutions in the...

2016 Ballot Propositions

Updates

10 Sep, 2016

2016 Ballot Propositions

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In these YouTube videos, UC Hastings Professors Manoj Viswanathan, Hadar Aviram, Michael Salerno, Naomi Roht-Arriaza, and Marsha Cohen give detailed descriptions of the propositions on the November 2016 ballot. The explanations include some of the more substantial bill provisions and the arguments for and against each proposition.

SCOCA Conference 2017: Save The Date

Updates

2 Aug, 2016

SCOCA Conference 2017: Save The Date

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Mark your calendar! On Friday 13 Jan 2017 the California Constitution Center will present its conference on the California Supreme Court, in partnership with the center’s friends at Hastings Law Journal, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the Institute of Governmental Studies. This year the conference is at Hastings. Registration opens in October.

Argument Analysis: Laffitte v. Robert Half International Inc.

Lafitte v. Robert Half International Inc

4 Jun, 2016

Argument Analysis: Laffitte v. Robert Half International Inc.

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  Lafitte poses a deceptively simple question, which the California Supreme Court framed as: “Does Serrano v. Priest (1977) permit a trial court to anchor its calculation of a reasonable attorney’s fees award in a class action on a percentage of the common fund recovered?” After nearly forty years of judicial experience reviewing attorney’s fee award requests in light of Serrano, one might think that the question was settled and the answer is “yes.” The appellant, however, hopes to convince the court that the right answer is “no.” Having granted review, we will see if the court can be convinced....

Vergara: Teacher Tenure Is Not Necessarily an Equal Protection Issue

Vergara v. State of California

31 May, 2016

Vergara: Teacher Tenure Is Not Necessarily an Equal Protection Issue

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This week a petition for review was filed in Vergara v. State of California (S234741), potentially setting the stage for SCOCA to settle the great matter pending in education law today. The issue in that case is framed as whether teacher tenure violates students’ right to an effective education. As we explain below, that is not the real question, and teacher tenure is only one factor in evaluating an education right claim based on equal protection. The California constitution protects an individual right to an education. As our colleague Anne Gordon explained in her article, California Constitutional Law: The Right...

Opinion Analysis: Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

Kilby v. CVS

8 Apr, 2016

Opinion Analysis: Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

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In response to a request from the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court provided definitive guidelines for interpretation of the “suitable seats” requirement of California’s wage orders. Although not as frequent a subject of litigation as overtime and misclassification, the provision is the subject of several pending class actions, which should benefit from the new decision. The “Suitable Seats” Requirement All but two of the seventeen California Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders contain the following requirement: “(A) All working employees shall be provided with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats. (B) When...

Argument Analysis: People v. Franklin

People v. Franklin

17 Mar, 2016

Argument Analysis: People v. Franklin

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On March 1, 2016, the California Supreme Court heard argument in People v. Franklin (S217699). Tyris Franklin was convicted of murder at the age of sixteen and sentenced to a mandatory fifty years to life in prison. The briefing in People v. Franklin sought a fundamental change in the sentencing of juveniles tried in adult courts to make parole dates turn on the individual characteristics of the defendant and not on the prison term set by the applicable statute. The March 1 oral argument, however, seemed to suggest that little will change. The issue stems from a 2005 decision by...

Does a Statute Compelling a Business to Enter into a Collective Bargaining Agreement Violate Equal Protection, or the Nondelegation Doctrine?

Gerawan Farming Inc. v. Agriculture Labor Relations Board

22 Feb, 2016

Does a Statute Compelling a Business to Enter into a Collective Bargaining Agreement Violate Equal Protection, or the Nondelegation Doctrine?

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Later this year the California Supreme Court will hear arguments in Gerawan Farming Inc. v. Agriculture Labor Relations Board—a case that has already received a great deal of public attention. At issue are controversial amendments to the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. They purport to authorize the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board to order businesses into binding “interest arbitration.” Under the Mandatory Mediation and Conciliation provisions of the ALRA, the Board issues a binding order, at the request of a petitioning union, forcing a business to enter into mediation over a proposed collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and ultimately—if the union and...

Opinion Analysis: Monterey Peninsula Water Management District v. California Public Utilities Commission

Monterey Peninsula Water Management District v. CPUC

27 Jan, 2016

Opinion Analysis: Monterey Peninsula Water Management District v. California Public Utilities Commission

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On January 25, 2016, in Monterey Peninsula Water Management District v. California Public Utilities Commission, the California Supreme Court issued its first opinion in over twenty years reviewing a California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) decision. The last time the court spoke on the scope of the CPUC’s jurisdiction—in 1995—it ruled that the CPUC’s otherwise broad authority does not allow it to ignore express statutory directives or other clear restrictions on its authority. Assembly v. Public Utilities Commission (1995) at 103–104. After a long hiatus, the court has again clarified the limitations of the CPUC’s jurisdiction: the CPUC does not have...

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SCOCAblog is a publication brought to you by the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law and the UC Law Journal. Focused on substantive coverage of the Supreme Court of California, we analyze the court and its justices, cases and issues before the court, and news about California's judicial branch. Our contributors include former justices of the court, academics, and advocates experienced in appellate practice before the state high court.

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