Digital Commons Network^™

Homeowner’S Property Tax Exemption And Renter’S Tax Credit. Initiative Constitutional Amendment And Statute.

Initiatives

Beginning January 1, 2017, increases amount of homeowner’s property tax exemption from $7,000 to $32,000. Establishes supplemental renter’s tax credit of $250 or $125, depending on taxpayer’s filing status. Provides for annual inflation adjustments to exemption and credit. Requires general fund reimbursement to local governments for lost revenue resulting from increases in exemptions and credits. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Reduced state resources of around $2 billion annually. Likely increased funding for schools and community colleges, in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes cannabis plants and products under state law, including hemp. Releases nonviolent marijuana offenders from prison and erases their criminal records. Designates Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate and license recreational marijuana industry. Imposes 15% tax on nonmedical marijuana and 3% tax on medical marijuana, and additional temporary taxes. Applies general retail sales taxes to nonmedical marijuana. Prohibits local governments from enacting taxes, fees, or bans targeting marijuana. Allows personal use of five pounds of dried marijuana, one pound of concentrated, and three gallons of liquid extracts; and private cultivation of 500 square feet per adult (1,500 per parcel). …

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes under state law marijuana possession, production, cultivation, transportation, manufacture, processing, and sale. Creates board to license and regulate the marijuana industry. Establishes procedures for release or resentencing of persons convicted of marijuana offenses. Establishes procedures for erasing records of these convictions. Imposes excise tax on marijuana of $8 per ounce of dried marijuana, $.20 per gallon of liquid marijuana-infused products, or $1.00 per gram of concentrated marijuana. Permits local taxes on marijuana sales, up to 2% of retail price, with voter approval. Exempts medical marijuana from all taxation. Limits local regulation of marijuana. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst …

Board Of Directors Open Meeting 06/05/2015, Uc Hastings Board Of Directors

2015 Board of Directors Agenda and Materials

No abstract provided.

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes under state law marijuana use, growth, cultivation, possession, transportation, storage, or sale. Creates commission to regulate and license marijuana industry. Applies general retail sales taxes to marijuana, unless medical or dietary exemptions apply. Permits taxes on nonmedical marijuana sales, up to 10% of retail price. Prohibits discrimination against marijuana users or businesses. Prohibits Legislature from enacting marijuana laws. Imposes personal liability on law enforcement for wrongful marijuana destruction or assisting with certain marijuana investigations. Requires voter approval to zone beyond set limits. Nullifies other local regulations. Exempts medical marijuana collectives from licensing and local zoning. Summary of estimate by …

Limits On Use Of Facilities In Government Buildings And Businesses. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Prohibits individuals from using facilities in government buildings except in accordance with their sex as determined at birth, through medical examination, or court judgment recognizing a change of gender. Creates legal damages claim of at least $4,000 against a government entity or person that violates the provision. Allows businesses to prohibit employees or patrons, including transgender people, from using facilities except in accordance with their sex as determined at birth, through medical examination, or court judgment. Exempts businesses from criminal and civil liability for implementing such a prohibition. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal …

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Retroactively legalizes, under state law, marijuana and hemp use, cultivation, possession, transportation, processing, distribution, and sale by persons 21 years and over. Creates commission to regulate and license marijuana industry. Bars commission from capping number of licensed businesses that grow less than 100 plants. Allows unlicensed cultivation for use, or sale at cost, of up to six plants per person. Applies general retail sales taxes to nonmedical marijuana sales. Permits additional taxes on nonmedical marijuana processing and sales totaling up to 30% of retail price. Allows certain local regulation, but not regulation inconsistent with measure’s policies. Summary of estimate by …

Revenue Bonds. Statewide Voter Approval. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

Initiatives

Requires statewide voter approval before any revenue bonds can be issued or sold by the state for projects that are financed, owned, operated, or managed by the state or any joint agency created by or including the state, if the bond amount exceeds $2 billion. Prohibits dividing projects into multiple separate projects to avoid statewide voter approval requirement. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The fiscal effect on state and local governments is unknown and would vary by project. It would depend on (1) the outcome of projects …

Right-Sizing Broadband Spectrum Auction Licenses: The Case For Smaller Geographic License Areas In The Tv Broadcast Incentive Auction, William Lehr, J. Armand Musey

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article examines the potential impact of smaller-sized license territories in the context of the FCC's upcoming 2016 Broadcast Incentive Auction-the largest, most complex auction to date. The purpose of the auction is to free up to 120 MHz of prime spectrum in the 600 MHz band, currently licensed to over-the-air television broadcasting, to repurpose for licensing mobile broadband and other higher value wireless services. This article argues that using smaller territories is more consistent with the longterm direction of efficient spectrum management reform and future wireless market. The article also explains how adopting small geographic territories is necessary to …

Using Gatt-Trips To Improve Development Opportunities: A Proposal For Central America, Cecily Anne O’Regan, Patrick T. O’Regan

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Given the geographic and natural resource advantages that countries in the Americas have which will likely shape the business and trade climate in the 21st century, accelerating the development process for developing countries in the region takes on new significance for all involved. This work assesses ways in which Central American countries can use compliance with GATT-TRIPs and TRIPs-plus bilateral agreements to promote their economic development. The first section describes current approaches to IP protection in Costa Rica and El Salvador. The final section goes on to propose regional strategies and legal changes, which are GATT-TRIPs compliant that could potentially …

Smile For The Camera: The Revenge Pornography Dilemma, California's Approach, And Its Constitutionality, Snehal Desai

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Revenge pornography is an increasingly prevalent form of cyberharassment, in which embarrassing and sexually explicit pictures and videos are posted on the internet without the consent of the depicted individual. Due to the First Amendment's protection of speech and expression, victims have had little legal recourse against their cyber-harassers. Many states have started to pass laws prohibiting revenge pornography, which have fortunately created some protections for victims. However, the recent passage of such statutes has also led to the debate about their constitutionality.

This Note first examines revenge pornography from various First Amendment perspectives, concluding that courts should carve out …

Airbnb And The Housing Segment Of The Modern Sharing Economy: Are Short-Term Rental Restrictions An Unconstitutional Taking, Jamila Jefferson-Jones

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The last few years have seen a reinvention of the economy through the growth of the "sharing economy" or the "new economy." The sharing economy has redefined consumption in the housing context in a manner that implicates the exclusivity of the use and enjoyment of real property. However, there is a brewing conflict between this genesis and the realities of economic regulation. Recently, controversy erupted in New York after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed Airbnb's records requesting data on its hosts for the previous three years. Schneiderman contended that Airbnb hosts in New York City were violating a …

A Free Start: Community-Based Organizations As An Antidote To The Mass Incarceration Of Women Pretrial, Amber Baylor

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Collaborations with community-based programs can potentially reduce the mass incarceration of women in jails across the country. Despite recommendations to the contrary, judges consistently require bail rather than release. As a result, indigent women who cannot pay bail are detained while their income, home, health, and family networks unravel. Ms. Baylor recommends the utilization of community organizations and services at the pretrial stage, which would result in fewer people regulated to prison as a resolution in their criminal case, or returning to jail in the future.

No Freedom In A Ship Of Fools: A Democratic Justification For The Common Core State Standards And Federal Involvement In K-12 Education, Neelam Takhar

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

One of the most important functions of the government is the provision of a free public education. While Brown v. Board of Education removed one obvious barrier to equal education opportunities—that of racially segregated education—it left in place another: the obstacle faced by poor school districts that wish to provide an education to their students on equal terms with the education offered by wealthier school districts. The disparities in the quality of education between districts and states are becoming more and more obvious as a growing obstacle to equity. The new Common Core State Standards, which are a single set …

Effectively Implementing Civilian Oversight Boards To Ensure Police Accountability And Strengthen Police-Community Relations, Kevin King

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The recent killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have reignited the debate over curbing police misconduct. Due to United States Supreme Court jurisprudence and the quality of internal affairs investigations there continues to be a void in police oversight. Local governments are often reactive, instead of proactive, when implementing strategies for overseeing police misconduct. On several occasions civilian oversight boards have only formed in reaction to tragic death. When implemented effectively, civilian oversight boards can both help create just police practices and better the civilian complaint process. Unfortunately, some of these boards fail to develop into more than symbols …

Ferguson To Geneva: Using The Human Rights Framework To Push Forward A Vision For Racial Justice In The United States After Ferguson, Justin Hansford, Meena Jagannath

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

As demonstrations under the banner of #BlackLivesMatter continue to erupt around the United States against state-sponsored violence, and as state, local, and federal officials continue to eschew fundamental social change, families and protesters have begun to explore alternative international forums in the search for justice. The Ferguson to Geneva delegation represents a significant event in this internationalist turn. The delegation, consisting of the parents of Mike Brown, Jr. and young Black leaders from Ferguson, chose to air their grievances before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in the fall of 2014. This article reproduces the delegation's "shadow report," which laid …

Exonerated, But Not Free: The Prolonged Struggle For A Second Chance At A Stolen Life, Newton N. Knowles

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

It is impossible to imagine being accused of a crime you did not commit. Worse, it is even harder to imagine a jury sentencing you to death or to life in prison when you know you are innocent. Since the rise of DNA evidence, the criminal justice system has been stunned by the newly exposed cases of wrongful conviction. Sadly, in most cases innocent exonerees are released with nothing more than an apology, if even that. Postexoneration compensation varies drastically among the several states and reentry resources are even more scarce or unavailable. Each compensation scheme on its own, however, …

Responding To The Childhood Vaccination Crisis: Legal Frameworks And Tools In The Context Of Parental Vaccine Refusal, Dorit Rubenstein Reiss, Lois A. Weithorn

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Are Private Prisons To Blame For Mass Incarceration And Its Evils? Prison Conditions, Neoliberalism, And Public Choice, Hadar Aviram

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Monitoring Youth: The Collision Of Rights And Rehabilitation, Kate Weisburd

Faculty Scholarship

A monumental shift in juvenile justice is underway, inspired by the wide recognition that incarceration is not the solution to youth crime. In its place, “electronic monitoring” has gained widespread support as a new form of judicial control over youth offenders. Supporters herald it as “jail-togo”: a cost-efficient alternative to incarceration that allows youth to be home while furthering rehabilitative and deterrent goals. But despite electronic monitoring’s intuitive appeal, virtually no empirical evidence suggests its effectiveness. Instead, given the realities of adolescent development, electronic monitoring may lead to more harm than good. This Article is the first to examine the …

Prosecute, Sue, Or Deport? Transnational Accountability In International Law, Chimène Keitner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Responding To The Childhood Vaccination Crisis: Legal Frameworks And Tools In The Context Of Parental Vaccine Refusal, Lois A. Weithorn, Dorit Rubenstein Reiss

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mandating Discretion: Juvenile Sentencing Schemes After Miller V. Alabama, Jennifer S. Breen, John Mills

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Trust In Immigration Enforcement: State Noncooperation And Sanctuary Cities After Secure Communities, Ming Hsu Chen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The New Steam: On Digitization, Decentralization, And Disruption, Deven R. Desai

UC Law Journal

Digitization is the new steam. Steam allowed us to leverage like never before and spawned a series of new offerings and new needs. The steam era started with many competitors and inventors and ended with only a few concentrated winners. The winners contributed vast amounts to society and spawned a need for new laws, from antitrust to product liability to intellectual property to securities, and more. Just as steam disrupted old industries and fostered new ones, digitization is providing the same changes today. Digitization opens the door to decentralized production, lower costs, and disruption of incumbents, but digitization does not …

Note – Return To “Reasonable” In Section 1983 Police Pursuit Excessive Force Litigation, Benjamin Buchwalter

UC Law Journal

Scott v. Harris set the standard that a police officer’s use of deadly force to terminate a high-speed chase is presumptively reasonable, even if it is likely to kill or seriously injure the suspect. The implications of this are troubling: twenty-eight percent of people killed in police pursuits each year are innocent bystanders, and vehicle accidents are the most common cause of police deaths. Scott was wrongly decided because it departed from the case-by-case reasonableness standard upon which the Supreme Court previously relied for excessive force cases, failed to consider the potential risk that these chases added to the public, …

Bringing Dark Money Into The Light: 501(C)(4) Organizations, Gift Tax, And Disclosure, Tyler J. Kassner

UC Law Business Journal

Political speech funneled through 501(c)(4) organizations and funded by anonymous contributions is not just legal: It’s rampant. Could applying the gift tax to 501(c)(4) contributions resolve a legal grey area while curbing this anonymous political speech? Legally, expanding the gift tax would appear to be a legitimate option. It would be consistent with prior tax expansions and it is not abnormal for tax incentives to influence taxpayer behavior. The problem is not whether Congress could expand the tax, but whether it should. Applying the gift tax to 501(c)(4) contributions may very well curtail anonymous spending by c4s, but it would …

Perspectives On Criminal Litigation Ethics: James Cole & Jeffrey Adachi, James Cole, Jeffrey Adachi

UC Law Journal

In August 2013, U.C. Hastings College of the Law was honored to host its first ever MCLE conference addressing “Criminal Litigation Ethics.” MCLE, of course, means “mandatory continuing legal education,” and I was pleased to organize a conference that addressed, in an academic setting, this vital topic of practical lawyering that appears in the headlines almost every day. Our unique objective was to provide two full days of hands-on training by nationally prominent criminal defense and prosecution lawyers, for litigating lawyers as well as law students, separated by setting and geography from the competition of daily practice. The conference was …

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes limited amounts of marijuana, including concentrated cannabis, under state law for personal use, cultivation, possession, transportation, purchase, donation, or consumption by persons 21 years and over. Requires Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate and license commercial marijuana cultivation, transportation, sales, and testing. Imposes 25% tax on nonmedical marijuana retail sales. Allocates revenues to repayment of general fund start-up loan to Department, research, afterschool programs, drug treatment and prevention, local law enforcement/fire, and environmental cleanup. Exempts medical marijuana collectives from licensing and regulatory requirements. Allows local governments to ban/limit number of marijuana businesses. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst …

Due Process And Temporal Limits On Mandatory Immigration Detention, Farrin R. Anello

UC Law Journal

Since 1996, the Immigration and Nationality Act has required the government to take into custody individuals in removal proceedings who have past convictions for any of a wide range of criminal offenses. This provision has led to more than a five-fold increase in the number of people detained each day, with harsh consequences for these individuals, their families, and communities across the country.Such a sweeping, categorical detention is not easily reconciled with the Supreme Court’s 2001 decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, which extended to immigration detention the due process limits that the Court has recognized on other forms of civil …