California Municipal Law Blog
by David G. Ritchie on March 29, 2016
posted in
Employment Law, Recent Court Decisions, U.S. Supreme Court, Unions,
Previously we wrote about Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (a link to our previous article is here), a case involving whether public-sector union fair share arrangements are invalid because they violate individual first amendment rights.
Today, the Supreme court divided equally in deciding the case and issued a one-sentence decision affirming the Appellate Court decision and leaving earlier precedent, including the Abood case intact (as criticized as it has become.) The case was decided by an eight-member Court, which could have held the case over for re-argument after confirmation ... Continue Reading
tags:
Abood Case, California Teachers Association, Fair Share Arrangements, Friedrichs, Ninth Circuit, Union Shop,
by Derek P. Cole on March 28, 2016
posted in
Public Records Act, Recent Court Decisions,
As this Blog previously noted, the State Supreme Court had before it two cases in which inadvertent disclosures of attorney-client privileged records were made in response to requests under the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”). In both cases, the question was whether the mistaken releases waived the privileges. (Our previous updates about these cases are linked here and here.)
On March 17, the Court resolved a split in the appellate courts by ruling that mistaken disclosures do not waive the attorney-client privilege (or the related attorney “work-product” protection). In ... Continue Reading
tags:
Attorney-Client Privilege, Mistaken Release, Public Records, Work Product Protection,
by Derek P. Cole on February 1, 2016
posted in
Meetings,
Local agency officials are well aware of the basic requirements for public-meeting agendas. They know, for instance, that agendas for regular meetings must be posted at least 72 hours in advance. In light of legislation that took effect in 2012, they also know that if their agencies post agendas online—which most local agencies now do—the agendas must be posted online within the same timeframe.
But what happens if an agency’s website goes down during the period in which the agenda must be online? Does that mean the agency can’t take any action on any of the business items for the ... Continue Reading
tags:
Brown Act, Online Agendas, Technical Difficulties, Website Outages, Websites,
by Sean D. De Burgh on January 29, 2016
posted in
Immunities, Recent Court Decisions,
In a favorable ruling for public agencies, the Sixth Appellate District recently held that the Regents of the University of California were not liable for the death of a University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) student who was killed along the Great Meadow Parkway in a fatal bicycle accident as he was returning home from an evening class. (Burgueno v. The Regents of the University of California.) The student’s family alleged dangerous condition of public property and wrongful death, asserting that the bikeway was unsafe in light of its downhill curve, sight limitations, lack of runoff ... Continue Reading
tags:
Dual Use, Immunities, Public use trails, Recreational Use,
by Betsy Martyn on January 28, 2016
posted in
CEQA, Damages, Elections, Employee Benefits, Employment Law, Ethics, Legislative Updates, Medical Marijuana, Proposition 215, Public Records Act, Water, Zoning,
The following laws are effective January 1, 2016, unless otherwise provided. These legislative changes were selected as those of importance and/or interest to public agencies.
... Continue Reading
tags:
2016 Legislative Session, California Legislature, New laws,
