The Southern California Record

21/11/2023

Video game makers beware: Put dance moves in your game, and your next level could be in court

With a recent federal appeals court ruling that found Fortnite’s developers can be sued by a dancer who claims they ripped off his original choreography for use in the video game, it’s raising questions about the impact on other creators in the gaming industry.

01/11/2023

California state officials say they're "banning censorship" in schools. Parents' rights groups say a new California law allows state education officials to run roughshod over the rights of parents and local community leaders to direct education in local public schools

A new law that gives more state power over what is taught in schools is raising questions over whether the state isn't just running roughshod over local school boards because the state doesn't like local school curriculum decisions.

20/10/2023

'Not the way American constitutional rights work,' judge says in declaring the state of California's so-called "assault weapons" ban tramples the Second Amendment

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez said California cannot constitutionally use threat of possible mass shootings to justify criminalizing the ownership of certain fi****ms the state believes are "unusually dangerous"

17/10/2023

California's new 'Clean Fleet' rules will illegally impose Golden State standards throughout U.S. and 'wreak havoc' on the economy, truckers say

The California Truckers Association filed suit, seeking to block enforcement of the Advanced Clean Fleets rules they say conflict with federal law, violate the Constitution, and will hurt the economy

27/09/2023

A state appeals panel has revived a lawsuit claiming LA school officials and the LA teachers union discriminated against Black and Latino students when they forced students onto remote learning amid the Covid pandemic

An appellate panel has ruled a group of plaintiffs may continue their suit, which claimed Los Angeles school and union officials discriminated against students of color through remote-learning policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that although schools are back in session, academic damage to...

15/09/2023

LA tourism could suffer, and the city could be in line for lawsuits accusing it of trampling hotel owners' constitutional property rights, if a measure is approved forcing hotels to house homeless people in vacant rooms in exchange for sub-market city vouchers

Hotel owners warn industry could be gutted and city could face lawsuits, accusing the city of trampling constitutional rights, if city approves ballot measure next spring to force hotel owners to house homeless in vacant rooms, paid only by city vouchers

17/08/2023

The effort to remove LA County DA George Gascon continues, despite a court decision limiting recall supporters' access to some voter records

The committee seeking to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said LA County election officials wrongly spiked their recall petition, and are now wrongly fighting recall supporters' efforts to show why it was improper

27/07/2023

California cities can't tow homeless people's cars, no matter how many unpaid parking tickets they may amass, a state court has ruled, adding yet more difficulty to the task of addressing societal problems caused by rampant and worsening homelessness in San Francisco and other Golden State communities

A California appeals court has barred municipal government agencies from towing vehicles that have been the subject of multiple unpaid traffic tickets, provided the car is parked legally and is not causing a safety hazard.

07/07/2023

Unless the Supreme Court steps in, the decision will create a new constitutional right to camp just about anywhere, even in parks and sidewalks, judges warned, worsening problems caused by homeless encampments

The Ninth Circuit Appeals Court refused to reconsider its decision allowing a class action to continue vs Oregon city, seeking to bar enforcement of 'anti-camping' ordinances. Dissenters said the decision amounts to new constitutional right to camp anywhere

21/06/2023

A San Diego church that runs a low-income daycare says California has cut off its childcare meal funds, simply because the church refuses to abide by the state's new gender ID dictates, in violation of their Christian beliefs

A San Diego area church-daycare is claiming it's unconstitutional for the federal and state governments to cut off meal subsidies for its children, because the church won't obey new gender identity mandates.

31/05/2023

Voters didn't violate the constitution by limiting county supervisors to just one term in office, while capping their pay to $5,000 a month

An appellate panel has ruled it is constitutional for voters to limit San Bernardino County supervisors to one-term limits and to a compensation cap, over the supervisors' objections.

08/05/2023

An LA cop who shot and killed Albert Dorsey, a large man who struggled with two smaller police officers trying to arrest him in a gym locker room, will get another chance to argue he is shielded from Dorsey's family's lawsuit by qualified immunity

With a new Republican-appointed judge added to a three-member federal appeals panel, the judges have tossed a previous appellate ruling that a Los Angles police officer cannot enjoy qualified immunity against a deadly force suit, agreeing to hear the case again.

03/05/2023

The lawsuit says the 10-day waiting period unconstitutionally makes legal gun buyers wait too long to exercise their constitutional rights to self-defense

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 fi****ms they need for "immediate self-defense"

26/04/2023

Judges appear to be disagreeing over whether gig workers, like Grubhub delivery drivers, should be considered employees or independent contractors under California law. The state Supreme Court is expected to still weigh in

With the recent federal court decision in Lawson v. Grubhub, which found an app-based driver had prevailed on claims of employee status under state wage law, it’s raising questions about the potential impact for others working in app-based services.

12/04/2023

A dissenting judge warned the decision, which would allow a torrent of lawsuits, could all but drive the scooter rental company out of business in California, putting a dent in plans by state and city officials to broaden the range of automobile transportation alternatives available to Californians

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

04/04/2023

Judges said new Burbank terminal project can't take off, because FAA didn't properly calculate whether construction noise will bother neighbors - even though that noise would likely be swallowed up by traffic on I-5

The ruling favors the city of Los Angeles in its effort to shut down plans to build a new terminal at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank

30/03/2023

Fashion Nova successfully asked vendors to stop doing business with Honey Bum, but didn't necessarily violate any laws, a federal appeals court ruled

28/03/2023

L.A. County prosecutor's decision to charge assisted living center over 2020 Covid outbreak may send ominous signal for a key industry

Silverado Senior Living is facing criminal charges over COVID-19 deaths after allegedly admitting a patient in March 2020 from New York that was infected and led to a deadly outbreak

17/03/2023

At least 16 other lawsuits from L.A. prosecutors are pending, asserting Gascon mistreated them for challenging his social justice-driven decisions to minimize prosecuting crime in L.A. County, potentially hanging taxpayers with court costs and judgments worth many millions of dollars

A Los Angeles jury has awarded a county prosecutor $1.5 million in damages, concluding that District Attorney George Gascón demoted her in retaliation for her questioning of Gascón’s justice reforms.

13/03/2023

A Florida lawyer posted on Twitter questioning California election results. California Secretary of State officials referred his tweets to Twitter. Twitter kicked him off. But neither Twitter nor the state violated the lawyer's constitutional rights, judges have said

A federal court has ruled Twitter and the state of California did not collude to kick a user off Twitter, but rather the social media company's interest in limiting alleged "election misinformation" "aligns" with the state's

07/03/2023

A lawyer can't sue Lowes because they wouldn't help him sic police on a man who refused to wear a mask in their store in June 2020. An appeals court says the lawyer doesn't need to pay Lowes' $95K legal bill, though

A lower court judge had ordered lawyer John Birke to pay $94,000 as a sanction for bringing the lawsuit, which that court had determined was frivolous. Birke had allegedly 'tracked' an unmasked man through the store while phoning police, until the other man allegedly spat in his face

02/03/2023

Palm Springs used the wrong law to justify shutting down a street for years to install the giant Forever Marilyn statue, judges said

'Forever Marilyn' has been on Museum Way for 3 years on 'temporary' road closure

21/02/2023

San Diego cops may still need to face a lawsuit accusing them of not doing enough to stop a woman from dying of OD after slipping into coma in back of a squad car

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will rehear a case, in which San Diego Police are accused of letting a woman die in custody, after the panel previously ruled police were not liable because of qualified immunity.

14/02/2023

An arbitration clause in the terms and conditions of Ticketmaster's online user agreement means ticket buyers can't sue the ticketing giant, no matter how excessive they believe Ticketmaster's fees may be

Judges determined an arbitration clause in a user agreement under Ticketmaster's terms and conditions dooms the attempt to sue the industry leader over allegedly excessive online ticketing fees

10/02/2023

"Simply put, there is insufficient evidence in the record to support the City’s finding that the project’s greenhouse gas emissions are consistent with the target of net zero emissions"

The Fourth District Appellate Court Division 3 said an Orange County Superior Court judge was correct in tossing out city of Irvine's approval of big office redevelopment because the city didn't properly analyze how much carbon would be emitted from cars associated with the project

08/02/2023

Fidelity's MyVoice system uses voice scans to create a kind of biometric password for customers, not like a lie detector, the judge said

A Fidelity customer must allege brokerage firm has used voice the voice scans like a lie detector in order to continue her lawsuit, the judge says

07/02/2023

The French Laundry - site of an infamous dinner party attended by Gov. Gavin Newsom in late 2020 - is suing to win insurance coverage for losses suffered when Newsom ordered them to close at the onset of the Covid pandemic

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

03/02/2023

People who beat back lawsuits under California's transparency in politics law may still be out big bucks in legal bills, the California Supreme Court has ruled

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

20/01/2023

California's new privacy law has taken effect. But businesses still don't know what exactly the state will require of them, because regulatory rules that were supposed to be completed last summer are still unfinished

The California Privacy Protection Agency was expected to finalize its rules by July 1, 2022, but is still collecting comments. Businesses may still be expected to comply with unfinished rules, however, or face the threat of lawsuits for breaking the unfinished rules, business advocates warn

19/01/2023

An ex-husband targeted by a new lawsuit claimed his employer was already withholding child support from his check, so allowing his ex-wife to sue him for more money amounted to a demand for double payment. Judges disagreed

A California appeals court has ruled an ex-spouse can be ordered to cover delinquent child support, even if an employer was already withholding support from the ex-spouse's salary, because nothing in state code shields the ex-spouse from back support payment demands