by Jason M. Ewert on December 8, 2025
posted in
Law Enforcement, Public Records Act,
In recent years, the California Legislature has taken significant steps to provide the public with greater access to peace officer personnel files, which were previously only accessible through formal law and motion proceedings, generally referred to as Pitchess motions. First, in 2018 Senate Bill 1421 (Skinner) amended section 832.7 of the California Penal code to require disclosure of certain categories of information from peace officer personnel files in response to California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests for information. Those categories include incidents involving discharge of a firearm ... Continue Reading
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New laws, Pitchess, Police,
by Stephen J. Zelezny on October 23, 2025
posted in
Administrative Regulations, CEQA, Legislative Updates,
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform legislation into law on June 30, 2025. Together, Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) and Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) exempt numerous development projects from extensive environmental review — enacting an urgent statewide effort to spur new housing construction. In addition to prioritizing housing, SB 131 also creates statutory exemptions for nonresidential developments, such as healthcare facilities, day care centers and broadband projects.
Municipalities, developers and residents will surely welcome these new CEQA reforms, ... Continue Reading
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AB130, administrative record, CEQA, construction, developers, SB 131,
by Sarah B. Levett on October 8, 2025
posted in
Litigation, Municipal Law,
Vexatious litigants are especially vexing for public entities, which have an obligation to carefully steward finite amounts of tax dollars and which are frequently targeted by individuals alleging shadowy government conspiracies. Ordinarily, when a self-represented litigant who meets one or more of the criteria set forth in Code of Civil Procedure Section 391(b) files suit, their classification and treatment as vexatious is straightforward. The issue becomes less straightforward, however, when the litigant is not the plaintiff but the defendant. This scenario can arise in the context of code enforcement ... Continue Reading
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by Czarmaine C. Majan on September 3, 2025
posted in
Law Enforcement, Pitchess Motions,
A Pitchess Motion is a procedural tool used in both criminal and civil cases to seek the discovery of specific information contained in confidential personnel files of peace officers. Pitchess is used typically in criminal cases in an effort to support the defense’s case and/or to impeach an officer who may testify as a material witness.
Although California Penal Code Section 832.7 has opened specific categories of peace officer records to public disclosure, Pitchess Motions remain highly relevant. This is because many forms of officer misconduct still fall outside the statute’s automatic ... Continue Reading
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by Tyler J. Sherman on August 14, 2025
posted in
Law Enforcement, Police Pursuits,
Tens of thousands of police pursuits occur every year in California according to data from the California Highway Patrol. Hundreds can result in serious crashes causing death or injury to officers, civilians or suspects. Seeing a need to stem the number of pursuit-related crashes, the Legislature adopted Vehicle Code section 17004.7 in 1987. (Alcala v. City of Corcoran, 147 Cal.App.4th 666, 672 (2007).)
Vehicle Code section 17001 makes public entities liable for employees’ negligent driving: “A public entity is liable for death or injury to person or property proximately caused by a negligent ... Continue Reading
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