Digital Commons Network^™

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes under state law marijuana and hemp use, possession, cultivation, transportation, or distribution. Requires case by- case review for persons currently charged with or convicted of nonviolent marijuana offenses, for possible sentence modification, amnesty, or immediate release from prison, jail, parole, or probation. Requires case-by-case review of applications to erase records of these charges or convictions. Requires Legislature to adopt laws to license and tax commercial marijuana sales. Allows doctors to approve or recommend marijuana for patients, regardless of age. Limits testing for marijuana for employment or insurance purposes. Bars state/local aid to enforce federal marijuana laws. Summary of estimate …

Revenue Bonds. Infrastructure Projects. State Legislature And Voter Approval. Initiative Constitutional Amendment

Initiatives

Requires State Legislature approve use of revenue bonds for public infrastructure projects funded, owned, or operated by the state or any joint agency that includes the state, if the bond amount exceeds $2 billion and repayment requires new, increased, or extended taxes, fees, or other charges. Requires that legislatively approved projects be presented on statewide ballot for voter approval. Applies to previously approved projects if remaining bond amount exceeds $2 billion. Requires that specified project information for all state bonds be included in voter ballot pamphlet. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on …

Redevelopment Agencies. Reestablishment. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Repeals elimination of redevelopment agencies. Allows local governments to reestablish redevelopment agencies and resume redirection of certain local property taxes to redevelopment projects, away from other local services. Removes prior redevelopment law's requirements for redevelopment plans to have certain dollar and time limits and caps on redevelopment agency debt. Expands prior definition of blight to allow whole cities and counties as redevelopment areas if county's unemployment rate exceeds statewide or national average. Reduces and makes optional the prior law's minimum affordable housing component. Extends prior law's time limit for using eminent domain. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director …

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes under state law marijuana use, growth, cultivation, possession, transportation, storage, or sale. Creates commission to regulate, and provide business licenses for, marijuana cultivation, sales, processing, transportation, and distribution. Applies general retail sales taxes to marijuana, unless exemptions for medical or dietary uses apply. Permits excise tax on marijuana sales, up to 10% of retail price. Prohibits discrimination against marijuana users or businesses. Requires voter approval to zone beyond set limits. Nullifies other local regulations. Prohibits Legislature from enacting marijuana laws. Exempts medical marijuana collectives from licensing, regulatory, and local zoning requirements. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director …

Marijuana Legalization. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Legalizes under state law marijuana use, cultivation, possession, transportation, processing, distribution, and sale by persons 21 years and over. Erases prior convictions for certain marijuana-related offenses two years after conviction. Requires Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to regulate and license commercial marijuana cultivation, transportation, sales, and testing. Imposes 6% tax on nonmedical marijuana sales at cultivation, wholesale, and retail stages. Permits local governments to impose additional 5% sales tax. Exempts personal gardens or up to three pounds of marijuana from regulation or taxation. Requires voter approval for local governments to enact certain marijuana zoning requirements. Summary of estimate by Legislative …

High-Speed Rail. Future Bond Sales. New Transportation Technologies. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Prevents sale of high-speed rail bonds previously approved by voters for construction of a high-speed rail system, except to fund any segment already under construction. Permits construction of first segment of the high-speed rail system to proceed, if Legislature consents, to allow comparison with other transportation technologies that deliver speeds exceeding 250 miles per hour or energy efficiencies exceeding 120 miles per gallon or equivalent. Authorizes state to acquire/dedicate right-of-way and contract with private developers to construct and operate new transportation technology pilot projects for comparison with high-speed rail. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of …

State Budget. Budget Stabilization Account.

Propositions

Requires annual transfer of state general fund revenues to budget stabilization account. Requires half the revenues be used to repay state debts. Limits use of remaining funds to emergencies or budget deficits. Fiscal Impact: Long-term state savings from faster payment of existing debts. Different levels of state budget reserves, depending on economy and decisions by elected officials. Smaller local reserves for some school districts. Note: On August 11, 2014, the State Legislature and Governor renumbered Proposition 44 to Proposition 2.

Veterans Housing And Homeless Prevention Bond Act Of 2014.

Propositions

Authorizes $600 million in general obligation bonds for affordable multifamily supportive housing to relieve homelessness, affordable transitional housing, affordable rental housing, or related facilities for veterans and their families. Fiscal Impact: Increased state bond costs averaging about $50 million annually over 15 years.

Indian Gaming Compacts.

Propositions

A "Yes" vote approves, and a "No" vote rejects, tribal gaming compacts between the state and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and the Wiyot Tribe. Fiscal Impact: One-time payments ($16 million to $35 million) and for 20 years annual payments ($10 million) from Indian tribes to state and local governments to address costs related to the operation of a new casino.

The Right To Strike - Sustainable Constitutional Reform: Comparative Case Studies Of Workers' Strikes In The Kenyan Public Sector, Ann Munene

UC Law SF International Law Review

A few years after the fall of apartheid, South Africa adopted one of the most progressive constitutions in African history in 1997. This adoption affirmed the emerging trend of constitutional reform embraced by many African nations, since the 1960s when most gained their independence. Most constitutional reform in Africa, focused on increasing human rights protections for Citizens. One such right is the right to strike.

This note will examine the Kenyans' choice to include a "Right to Strike" provision in the newly adopted Constitution of 2010, in the face of a similar provision in the Labour Relations Act of 2007. …

Uc Hastings (Spring 2014), Hastings College Of The Law Alumni Association

Hastings Alumni Publications

No abstract provided.

Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties.

Propositions

Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for certain drug and property offenses. Inapplicable to persons with prior conviction for serious or violent crime and registered sex offenders. Fiscal Impact: State and county criminal justice savings potentially in the high hundreds of millions of dollars annually. State savings spent on school truancy and dropout prevention, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and victim services.

Voter Information Guide For 2014, General Election

Propositions

General Election

Voter Information Guide For 2014, Primary Election

Propositions

California Statewide Direct Primary Election

Political Broadcasting Fairness In The Twenty-First Century: Putting Candidates And The Public On Equal First Amendment Footing, Mark R. Arbuckle

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

There is a fundamental inconsistency in the current political fairness and access rules for U.S. broadcasting. While political candidates enjoy a long-standing right of access to broadcast stations to express their views and attack and answer attacks from opponents, stations have no obligation to be fair to noncandidate citizens who may be personally attacked, nor to make any good-faith effort to present opposing views on controversial public issues. However, this has not always been the case. Under the Fairness Doctrine, in place from 1949 to 1987, broadcasters were expected to present controversial issues of public importance and provide reasonable opportunity …

The Inmate Export Business And Other Financial Adventures: Correctional Policies For Times Of Austerity, Hadar Aviram

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The fallout of the financial crisis continues to have major effects across the American correctional landscape. Federal and state budgetary limits have slowed and even reversed what were thought to be ever-rising incarceration rates. While this has successfully led to less punitive policies regarding the death penalty and the war on drugs, incarceration practices have affected punitivism in more complex ways. This article explores the correctional changes prompted by the financial crisis that are being made not at the ballot box, but behind closed doors. The outcomes of negotiations between prison administrators and private service providers, or amongst state governments, …

In Re C.P.: The Ohio Supreme Court's Expansion Of Roper V. Simmons And Graham V. Florida To The Realm Of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration, Ben Blumenthal

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In the landmark 2012 Ohio Supreme Court case In re C.P., the court held the statute mandating a minor's automatic lifetime registration as a sex offender constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eight Amendment and Ohio's own constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the court found automatic registration ran afoul of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

In re C.P. raises several critical questions. Chief amongst them is whether categorical principles enunciated in Roper v. Simmons and Graham v. Florida should even apply to juvenile sex-offender registration schemes. This question is highly relevant because an …

Analyzing The Constitutional Implications Of The Department Of Veterans Affairs' Process To Determine Incompetency: Is The Federal Government Violating The Second Amendment And Due Process, Joshua Flynn-Brown

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Over the past decade the Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA") quietly reported hundreds of thousands of veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check list. Placement on the list prevents veterans from obtaining firearms from federal firearms licensees, effectively precluding exercise of the fundamental right to own a firearm. As of June 1, 2012, there were 153,298 names on the list with a shocking 99.3% of them from the VA. The VA is overreporting veterans by utilizing a very low financial incompetence standard: Once it determines that a veteran requires a fiduciary to administer benefit payments, the VA reports that …

Bring Your Own Devices: A Cautionary Tale For Public Employees During Investigatory Searches, Julie Chow

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The advancement of technology-specifically in the form of electronic communication devices-has given rise to a new phenomenon known as "Bring Your Own Device," or "BYOD," whereby employees use their personal electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, for work purposes. While this growing trend may be beneficial to employers and employees, it raises potential problems, especially in the area of employee privacy for those who work in state and local government. The extension of BYOD practices to public employers and government agencies raises Fourth Amendment concerns regarding whether employers may search these employee-owned devices for work purposes in the …

Passwords Please: Rethinking The Constitutional Right To Informational Privacy In The Context Of Social Media, Sara E. Stratton

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Much attention has been placed on social media privacy in the workplace. There have been several reports of public employers directing job applicants during their interview to divulge their username and password to allow the government to review the applicant's social media activity as part of a background check. This Note contends that the practice of public employers requiring applicants to provide their social media login information violates the constitutional right to informational privacy. With increasing access to the Internet and the popularity of social media, personal information on the Internet is becoming more accessible than ever before. Although the …

S.B. 9: A Second Chance For Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole In California In Theory - And Why It Won't Make A Difference In Practice, Evan Reese

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Historically, juveniles have been treated differently than adults when convicted of a crime. They were seen as less culpable than adults and more capable of reform. In California and in many other states, however, some juveniles have been tried as adults in a variety of situations. Recent legislation in California has offered a glimmer of hope, and perhaps a second chance, for some juvenile offenders who have been sentenced as adults to life without parole. S.B. 9 allows such juveniles to petition the court for resentencing after serving the first fifteen years of their life sentence. In theory, if the …

Alive Not Dead: The Revival Of Redevelopment Post-Matosantos, Helen Luu Chou

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In December 2011, the California Supreme Court in California Redevelopment Association v. Matosantos upheld AB 1X 26-a bill eliminating redevelopment agencies in California. Even though redevelopment officially ended with Matosantos, discussion concerning the state of redevelopment has since been revived. The purpose behind the dissolution of redevelopment agencies was to fund special districts in a time of financial crisis, but what instead followed was dissension within California as cities and counties strongly opposed the dissolution of redevelopment and instead filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of AB 1X 26, and its subsequent "clean up" bill, AB 1484. Moreover, the redevelopment wind-up …

Sentenced To Die In Prison: Life Without Parole As An Eighth Amendment Violation For All Juveniles And Especially Those Who Have Not Killed, Morgan S. Mcginnis

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Over the last decade, the Supreme Court of the United States has delivered a series of rulings establishing that juvenile offenders are to have their criminal sentences considered differently from that of adults. Over this span of time, the Court established that it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to the death penalty in any scenario, as well as to life without parole for non-homicide crimes. In the 2012 case of Miller v. Alabama, the Court extended this line of reasoning by declaring that even for juveniles who commit homicides, life without parole may not be imposed as part of …

No To Bratton: A Rejection Of Stop And Frisk, And A Call For Progressive Reform In Oakland, Robert S. Greer Jr.

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

On January 23, 2012, the City of Oakland voted to retain the services of William Bratton, former police chief of both New York and Los Angeles, as a consultant to the Oakland Police Department. Oakland Community members reacted with concern and resistance to the City's decision, largely due to Bratton's promotion of aggressive stop and frisk search techniques. This note provides an analysis of Bratton's appointment in light of the Oakland Police Department's egregious history of constitutional violations and misconduct charges. Additionally, this note explores the empirical and theoretical flaws underpinning aggressive stop and frisk policies, and demonstrates why adopting …

How Mainstream Reformers Design Ambitious Reentry Programs Doomed To Fail And Destined To Reinforce Targeted Mass Incarceration And Social Control, Gerald P. Lopez

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The most influential publication on how to design and implement comprehensive and effective reentry programs is the 2005 REPORT OF THE REENTRY POLICY COUNCIL, produced by the bipartisan Council of State Governments (CSG). Triggered by the disturbingly high price of the reigning criminal justice system, and aiming to reduce costs and enhance safety, the REPORT manages both to champion an ambitious approach and to doom its chances of success. Perhaps this effect can be described as predictable and even intentional, especially given the overlapping interests of the elected and appointed officials (and the staffers and collaborators) who comprise CSG. But …

Perspectives On Criminal Litigation Ethics James Cole & Jeffrey Adachi, Rory K. Little, James Cole, Jeffrey Adachi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for petty theft, receiving stolen property, and forging/writing bad checks when value or amount involved is $950 or less. Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for certain drug possession offenses. Allows felony sentence for these offenses if person has previous conviction for crimes such as rape, murder or child molestation or is a registered sex offender. Requires resentencing for persons serving felony sentences for these offenses unless court finds unreasonable public safety risk. Applies savings to mental health and drug treatment programs, K-12 schools, and crime victims. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and …

Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute.

Initiatives

Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for petty theft, receiving stolen property, and forging/writing bad checks when value or amount involved is $950 or less. Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for certain drug possession offenses. Allows felony sentence for these offenses if person has previous conviction for crimes such as rape, murder or child molestation or is a registered sex offender. Requires resentencing for persons serving felony sentences for these offenses unless court finds unreasonable public safety risk. Applies savings to mental health and drug treatment programs, K-12 schools, and crime victims. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and …

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 …

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 …