Digital Commons Network^™

Changes Employment Classification Rules For App-Based Transportation And Delivery Drivers. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Establishes different criteria for determining whether app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery drivers are “employees” or “independent contractors.” Independent contractors are not entitled to certain state-law protections afforded employees—including minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. Instead, companies with independentcontractor drivers will be required to provide specified alternative benefits, including: minimum compensation and healthcare subsidies based on engaged driving time, vehicle insurance, safety training, and sexual harassment policies. Restricts local regulation of app-based drivers; criminalizes impersonation of such drivers; requires background checks. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: …

Referendum On Law That Replaced Money Bail With System Based On Public Safety And Flight Risk

Propositions

A "Yes" vote approves, and a "No" vote rejects, law replacing money bail with system based on public safety and flight risk. Fiscal Impact: Increased costs possibly in mid hundreds of millions of dollars annually for a new process for release from jail prior to trial. Decreased county jail costs, possibly in high tens of millions of dollars annually.

A Tale Of Two Portlands: How Port Cities Can Survive Dormant Commerce Clause Challenges To Fossil Fuel Shipping Restrictions, Kayla Race

UC Law Environmental Journal

Five port cities—Portland, Oregon; South Portland, Maine; Oakland, California; Longview, Washington; and Salt Lake City, Utah—have something in common: they all restricted the handling of fossil fuels at their shipping terminals. Moreover, impacted industries have responded with nearly identical dormant Commerce Clause-based lawsuits against the first four of those localities. This Article examines how much latitude cities have under the dormant Commerce Clause to restrict the handling of fossil fuels at their ports, using as case studies two recent court decisions upholding the ordinances of Portland, Oregon and South Portland, Maine under the dormant Commerce Clause. In addition, because the …

Voter Information Guide For 2020, Primary Election

Propositions

No abstract provided.

Asian Carp, The Chicago Area Water System, And Aquatic Invasive Species Management In The Great Lakes, Charles Lyons

UC Law Environmental Journal

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) management is an essential component to the health, integrity, and conservation of the Great Lakes as a whole. Asian carp is the most recent AIS threat to the region. While litigation and interstate agreements have not stemmed the fear of the potential effects of the introduction of Asian carp to the Great Lakes, it has encouraged agency action to address the issue. However, the success of implementing proposed measures requires funding and congressional approval with questions regarding their efficacy remaining unknown. Due to the lack of a comprehensive overarching federal statute addressing AIS management in its …

Authorizes Bonds For Facility Repair, Construction, And Modernization At Public Preschools, K–12 Schools, Community Colleges, And Universities. Legislative Statute.

Propositions

Authorizes $15 billion in state general obligation bonds for construction and modernization of public education facilities. Fiscal Impact: Increased state costs to repay bonds estimated at about $740 million per year (including interest) over the next 35 years.

Exempts App-Based Transportation And Delivery Companies From Providing Employee Benefits To Certain Drivers. Initiative Statute

Propositions

Classifies app-based drivers as "independent contractors," instead of "employees," and provides independent-contractor drivers other compensation, unless certain criteria are met. Fiscal Impact: Minor increase in state income taxes paid by rideshare and delivery company drivers and investors.

After Abolition: Acquiescence, Backlash, And The Consequences Of Ending The Death Penalty, Austin Sarat, Charlotte Blackman, Elinor Scout Boynton, Katherine Chen, Theodore Perez

Hastings Journal of Crime and Punishment

No abstract provided.

Are We Still Cheap On Crime? Austerity, Punitivism, And Common Sense In The Trump/Sessions/Barr Era, Hadar Aviram

Hastings Journal of Crime and Punishment

Literature on “late mass incarceration” observed a contraction of the carceral state, with varying opinions as to its causes and varying degrees of optimism about its potential. But even optimistic commentators were taken aback by the Trump-Sessions administration’s criminal justice rhetoric. This paper maps out the extent to which federal, state, and local actions in the age of Trump have reversed the promising trends to shrink the criminal justice apparatus, focusing on federal legislation, continued state and local reform, and the role of criminal justice in 2020 presidential campaigns. The paper concludes that the overall salutary trends from 2008 onward …

Victim Participation In The Criminal Process In Japan, Shigenori Matsui

Hastings Journal of Crime and Punishment

No abstract provided.

It’S A Blowhorn, Not A Dog-Whistle: How President Trump’S Travel Ban Orders, Not His Statements, Are Enough To Establish A Violation Under The Religion Clauses, Charles Adside Iii

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Most bigots speak softly. They use dog-whistles, code words employed to prime bigoted sentiments within the listener. Not President Donald J. Trump; his voice on Islam is like a blow horn. His orders imposing travel bans on seven Muslimmajority countries were just as loud. Although the Trump v. Hawaii Court claimed that the executive order it reviewed was religiously neutral, adherence to precedent reveals that all three executive orders violated the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment. There is much discussion, however, regarding the President’s remarks about Islam. Many jurists conclude that they should be used for interpretative purposes in …

Forum Delegation: The Birth And Transposition Of A New Approach To Public Forum Doctrine, Brett Johnson, Shane C. Epping

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This paper introduces and explores the concept of forum delegation: the power of government officials to suggest which forums to allow speakers to use. The concept is born out of a recent legal battle between the University of Minnesota and conservative speaker Ben Shapiro, in which the UMN required Shapiro to speak in a venue away from the heart of campus due to concerns over the school’s ability to provide adequate security for the event. The paper first analyzes the UMN case to assess the constitutionality of forum delegation in the context of regulating speech and public universities. Next, it …

California Cannabis Regulations And The Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act: A Product Liability Perspective Of Edible Cannabis, Alexis Lazzeri

UC Law Business Journal

From the passage of Proposition 215 to present day, California’s cannabis industry has transformed from access solely for medical patients to a nearly three billion dollar a year industry with legal medicinal and adult-use consumption. With this rise in accessibility, edible cannabis products are being consumed more than ever. “Edibles” are food and drink products infused with cannabis, a mix of THC (i.e., delta 9 - tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (i.e., cannabidiol)—with varying levels of each, depending on the desired effect. CBD is a non-intoxicating compound often used to treat physical ailments and chronic conditions, while THC delivers a euphoric high. …

Sentenced To Surveillance: Fourth Amendment Limits On Electronic Monitoring, Kate Weisburd

Faculty Scholarship

As courts and legislatures increasingly recognize that “digital is different” and attempt to limit government surveillance of private data, one group is conspicuously excluded from this new privacy-protective discourse: the five million people in the United States on probation, parole, or other forms of community supervision. This Article is the first to explore how warrantless electronic surveillance is dramatically transforming community supervision and, as a result, amplifying a growing privacy-protection disparity: those in the criminal legal system are increasingly losing privacy protections even while those not in the system are increasingly gaining privacy protections. The quickly expanding use of GPS-equipped …

When Are Vaccine Mandates Appropriate?, Dorit R. Reiss, Carmel Shachar

Faculty Scholarship

Vaccine refusal is a serious public health problem, especially in the context of diseases with potential to spark global pandemics, such as Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This article examines whether and when compelling vaccination through mandates and criminalization, for example, are appropriate. It argues that some legal approaches are ethical when they preserve social stability, trust in government, therapeutic research opportunities, or when they diminish disease severity.

The State Of Restorative Justice In American Criminal Law, Thalia Gonzalez

Faculty Scholarship

Restorative justice has been part of the American criminal justice system for more than three decades. Yet, it has only recently expanded into mainstream reform conversations—particularly those addressing mass incarceration and securing justice—and has gained a new urgency following nationwide protests in response to racial violence and anti-Blackness. Such increased attention necessitates that reformists think carefully about the existing legal landscape of restorative justice to ensure that the construction and refinement of restorative justice laws do not yield undesirable state and local practices. Drawing on a dataset of 264 laws, including statutes, court rules, and regulations in 46 jurisdictions, this …

Requires Arrest For Specified Offenses And, If Convicted, Detention Or Intervention Programs. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Requires arrest and detention for pretrial risk assessment when officer has probable cause that arrestee committed specified offenses, such as disorderly conduct and drug possession. Establishes specialized courts in counties with populations over 100,000 to determine if economic, substance abuse, or mental health issues were contributing factors in offense; if so, requires referrals to social-safety-net assistance or incarceration for drug treatment or mental health care. Amends Mental Health Services Act to utilize existing funding for such courts and programs. Establishes rules for expunging sentences for specified offenses. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact …

Expands Legalization Of Cannabis And Hemp. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Repeals existing conflicting laws regulating cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis and hemp. Legalizes cannabis and hemp, as defined. Expands judicial relief, including release from custody, for existing cannabis/hemp convictions. Prohibits permit, license, and tax requirements for personal uses; increases amount allowed for personal use. Prohibits commercial regulation beyond manner applicable to beer/wine; limits retail tax to 10%. Allows doctors to recommend cannabis without prescription; prohibits taxation of medicinal cannabis. Limits cannabis testing for employment or insurance purposes. Bars state or local aid to enforce federal cannabis/hemp laws. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal …

Expands Legalization Of Cannabis And Hemp. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Repeals existing conflicting laws regulating cultivation, sale, and use of cannabis and hemp. Legalizes cannabis and hemp, as defined. Expands judicial relief, including release from custody, for existing cannabis/hemp convictions. Prohibits permit, license, and tax requirements for personal uses; increases amount allowed for personal use. Prohibits commercial regulation beyond manner applicable to beer/wine; limits retail tax to 10%. Allows doctors to recommend cannabis without prescription; prohibits taxation of medicinal cannabis. Limits cannabis testing for employment or insurance purposes. Bars state or local aid to enforce federal cannabis/hemp laws. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal …

Requires Monetary Bail. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Initiatives

Amends state Constitution to require that monetary bail be included as a means to obtain release from jail before trial, except when arrested for specified crimes excluded under current law (i.e., capital crimes, certain felonies involving violence, sexual assault, or threat of great bodily harm). Amends state Constitution to add definition of “bail” as cash, state or federal bonds, real property, or bond posted by a licensed bail agent on behalf of a licensed surety company. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: If voters uphold the state’s pending …

Authorizes Bonds To Fund Projects For Wildfire Prevention, Safe Drinking Water, And Protecting Wildlife And Lands From Climate Risks. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Authorizes $7.883 billion in state general obligation bonds for various projects to mitigate climate risks and impacts in the following categories: $3.508 billion for wildfire prevention and community resilience; $2.2 billion for safe drinking water; $975 million for fish and wildlife; $770 million for coastal lands, bays, and oceans; $200 million for agricultural lands; and $230 million for workforce development and education regarding these issues. Appropriates money from General Fund to pay off bonds. Generally prioritizes projects benefiting disadvantaged communities. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: State costs …

Can A Distant Relative Allow The Government Access To Your Dna? The Fourth Amendment Implications Of Law Enforcement’S Genealogical Search For The Golden State Killer And Other Genetic Genealogy Investigations, George M. Dery Iii

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

This Article considers the advent of genetic genealogy, used by law enforcement in capturing the Golden State Killer suspect and in other cold cases. In these investigations, police used genetic information obtained from the open source genealogy site, GEDmatch, to build vast family trees spanning the entire country and several generations in order to locate suspects whose DNA matched that left at a crime scene. This Article analyzes the Fourth Amendment implications of government use of such powerful technology to explore such sensitive information as DNA. The conclusion the Supreme Court could reach, should it be called upon to examine …

The Internet Adopts Two-Way Radio, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The Internet, having displaced conventional correspondence with email, having displaced traditional libraries with online ones, having revolutionized shopping, having uprooted television and movies, now is absorbing police, fire, ambulance, and public utility two-radio systems.

Digital radio technologies combine with Internet switching of transmitters, receivers, and networks, so that a police officer can talk to an ambulance driver or a train dispatcher across the state or across the country. Specialized cellphones are becoming indistinguishable from walkie-talkies. Cellular telephone channels replace two-way-radio air links.

Integration of “private mobile radio” into the Internet is the result of specific advances in radio and networking …

Community Economic Development Strategies In The New Millennium: Key Advantages Of Community Benefits Agreements In Urban Mega-Projects, Andy Carr

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

The Real Anchor Babies: How Our Family Reunification Process Fails Refugee Women And Children & How We Can Do Better, Leanna Marie Sac

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Uc Hastings Law (Spring 2019), Hastings College Of The Law Alumni Association

Hastings Magazine (2008-2019)

No abstract provided.

Meritless Historical Arguments In Second Amendment Litigation, Mark Anthony Frassetto

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Since Heller Second Amendment litigation and scholarship has focused in large part on questions about the historical understanding of the Second Amendment. One area where this historical analysis has been especially pronounced is in litigation over the scope of the Second Amendment right outside of the home. Litigants, amici, and scholars fiercely debate the meaning of historical statutes, treatises, and cases, arguing about the scope of the right to carry arms outside of the home at the time of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments’ ratifications. Most law review articles attempt to address difficult or hotly contested legal issues. This is …

A Secret Weapon?: Applying Privacy Doctrine To The Second Amendment, Jody Lyneé Madeira

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In the past decade, “gun rights” advocates have attempted to strategically articulate a Second Amendment privacy interest in being free from interference from both governmental actors and private actors with ownership of, access to, or use of firearms. This essay explores why privacy is an appealing framework for these purposes, and how courts have responded to such claims thus far. Part I analyzes privacy as a legal and sociocultural construct, assesses claims that firearms ownership and use are stigmatized, and discusses how privacy doctrine can be a stigma management strategy. Part II examines three cases in which gun rights supporters …

An “Sdvcj Fix”—Paths Forward In Tribal Domestic Violence Jurisdiction, Joshua B. Gurney

UC Law Journal

Domestic violence has riddled the indigenous communities of the United States for decades. Within this problem lies another—non-Indians perpetrate crimes of domestic violence against Indian women at disproportionately high rates. Exacerbating this issue is the complicated web of criminal jurisdiction split between federal, state, and tribal governments. To ostensibly solve the problem, Congress enacted the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The Act contained an important provision that returned criminal jurisdiction to tribes, called “Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction.”

Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction, by most accounts, has been a resounding success. But it suffers from critical limitations, namely, …

The Third Rail Of San Francisco Politics: Transportation, Race, And The Central Subway, Wendell Lin

UC Law Journal

In the backdrop of intense political division, San Francisco is proud to be a beacon of diversity and inclusion. But the “sanctuary city” has an appalling history of racism and continues to relegate marginalized communities with transportation infrastructure decisions that exacerbate racial segregation and economic inequality. This Note exposes the racial bias underlying decisions with respect to transportation infrastructure, concluding that grassroots organizing, transparent decision making processes, and enhanced government accountability are three necessary means to protect the public’s interest.