Arizona’s voter initiative banning bail for undocumented aliens charged with a serious felony survived a constitutional challenge Tuesday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel voted 2-1 that Proposition 100 did not violate the Constitution’s due process…
Defendants facing competency hearings have a constitutional right to testify that cannot be waived by defense counsel, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The difficult judicial issue of handling disruptive defendants and competency hearings didn’t get any…
A timber sale in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California will be allowed to proceed, despite objections from environmentalists that it will threaten Northern Spotted Owl habitat. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday upheld a lower court decision…
[UPDATED] Someone forgot to tell the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the government is considering declassifying some documents related to claims the NSA collected phone records on Americans. On Monday, the circuit tossed a lawsuit against the NSA and President…
You might think the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision approving the police practice of collecting DNA from arrestees would moot the 9th Circuit’s review of a similar case. Certainly state Attorney General Kamala Harris thought so and filed papers with the…
Appellate judge’s in the Google Wi-Spy privacy class action weren’t giving up much indication of how they’re leaning in Monday’s argument, where the central question is whether the 1986 Wiretap Act would allow interception of unencrypted Wi-Fi signals. One thing…
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pending 11-judge review of DNA testing of felony arrestees is moot, says California Attorney General Kamala Harris. One day after the U.S. Supreme Court approved the practice of police collection of DNA samples…
Company pension plan managers have the same duty of care to its plan participants as they would to public stock investors under securities law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a class…
A federal appeals court Monday reinstated the death sentence of triple murderer Ronald Deere, over a dissent saying the majority would allow a judge suffering from dementia to impose the death penalty. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a…
One 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision slipped by with little notice last week, but it is worth mentioning the court reinstated a wage and hour class action by 500 warehouse workers of a California company that delivers medical…
A federal appeals court refused to put the financial bite on Medicare for dental coverage Friday, even when the patients have serious problems such as oral cancer or the rare Sjogren’s syndrome. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld…
More than half the 160 remaining claimants in a toxic pollution injury suit have lost their attempt to keep the claims alive in a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Wednesday. Residents of the MendocinoCounty town of Willets filed…
Just how much care police owe to citizens before the pull their weapons and open fire, proved to be a touchy topic for the California Supreme Court Wednesday. The justices grappled with a question put to them by the 9th…