On Thursday a state appellate court refused to order the state of California, represented by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown, to appeal a federal judge's ruling that ov ...

The long and arduous debate over strict-constructionism and original intent has always seemed to me to be displaced.  The idea that we can somehow infer the intent of the drafters of the constitution ...

I have defended Jerry Brown's decision not to defend Proposition 8 despite his role as Attorney General.  Basically, the Attorney General has the duty to defend California's laws from legal challenge ...

The roller coaster ride for same-sex couples and their advocates continued Monday, as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Judge Vaughn Walker's decision while the case is on appeal.  Lawyers ...

However the Ruling Allows Defendants to File For A Stay with a Higher Court - Initially, proponents of same-sex marriage rejoiced on Thursday as Judge Vaughn Walker announced that he would lift his st ...

Last week Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker invalidated Proposition 8, the measure that banned gays from marrying.  Today at noon he will determine whether or not to impose on a stay on his deci ...

In the past weeks there were two major court decisions, not handed down by the US Supreme Court, both of which struck down laws, one law enacted by the Arizona State Legislature and one by the Califor ...

U.S. Federal Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker, in a 136-page ruling, said "Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California ...

We have not discussed Arizona's SB 1070 much on these pages. However, as the law appears to be bleeding into local issues, it is worth noting that it seems likely that US District Judge Susan Bolton's ...

On December 9, Rich Rifkin wrote an op-ed in the Davis Enterprise that generated a good deal of controversy.  While the subject matter is not necessarily the purview of Davis it does overlap with issu ...

The Sacramento Bee reports on a ruling out of San Diego County where the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a comprehensive ruling that limits the use of Tasers by police against low-level off ...