Government
Nation Needs the Will to Eradicate Scourge of Homelessness
By David A. Lash
Forum Column - By David A. Lash - Homelessness is killing us. It is destroying our cities, our schools and our children. It co...
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Counsel Must Carefully Note Full Disclosure by Arbitrators
By Lawrence Waddington
Commercial arbitration practice, legislatively conceived as an alternative to litigation, initially used the knowledge and ski...
Civil Rights
Courts Treat State's Less Fortunate With Blind Indifference
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
In the 42 years since the Supreme Court ruled in Robinson v. California 370 U.S. 660 (1962), that states could not, con...
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - In the flurry of end of the term cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, not much attention has...
Appellate Practice
Exhaust All Measures Before Filing Petition for Writ Relief
By Paul D. Fogel , Benjamin G. Shatz
Focus Column - Appellate Law - By Paul D. Fogel and Benjamin G. Shatz - Given their limited resources, today's appellate court...
Government
Hand Over of Power Transfers Risks as Well as Responsibility
By Michael M. Farhang
The hand over of power in Iraq comes at a time of unusual opportunity. Incredibly, despite the bloodshed and chaos of recent w...
Government
Ask Hard Questions, Demand Real Answers, Restore Freedom
By Stephen F. Rohde
Forum Column - By Robin Meadow and Stephen F. Rohde - With the Fourth of July approaching, we should pause and reflect on the ...
Criminal
'Blakely' Signifies Great Change In Sentencing in Criminal Cases
By Erwin Chemerinsky , Laurie L. Levenson
Focus Column - Criminal Law - By Erwin Chemerinsky and Laurie Levenson - From a practical perspective, few Supreme Court decis...
Constitutional Law
9th Circuit Rightly Let Doctors Carry Out Their Patients' Wishes
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - Throughout American history, conservatives have used federalism as a way of opposing des...
Constitutional Law
Bush Shouldn't Steer County With Leadership Based on Faith
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
Some view recent ACLU success in persuading Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties to remove crosses from their respective se...
Column - Closer - By Valerie Fontaine - A candidate otherwise doing well in the interviewing process can be shot down by a poo...
Government
Treating War Prisoners With Respect Is a Useful Policy Tool
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
When French lawyer Jacques Verges recently filed a complaint before the International Court of Justice in The Hague against th...
Criminal
Courts Show Deliberate Indifference to Jailhouse Violence
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
On Dec. 20, 1997, Daniel Segovia, whom our office represented, was dragged - after all the cell doors on his row in a Men's Ce...
Law Practice
Participants in Teen Court Instinctively Uphold Principles of U.S. Constitution
By David A. Lash
Forum Column - By David A. Lash - One of the great displays of respect for justice and the court system recently took place no...
Government
Will Power-Sharing Accords Be Able to Hold Iraq Together?
By Michael M. Farhang
In early April 2003, just prior to the conquest of Baghdad by coalition forces, Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri shared with ...
Civil Rights
In 'Lane,' Court Finally Sees Disabilities Act as Civil Rights Tool
By Michael Waterstone
Forum Column - By Michael Waterstone - Last week, the Supreme Court decided Tennessee v. Lane as lawyers interested in ...
Criminal
Appeals Court's Ruling Could Open Door to Hope for Lifers
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - The 9th Circuit's recent decision in Ramirez v. Castro, 2004 DJDAR 5048 (9th Cir....
Government
U.S. Must Open All Its Military Prisons to Reform, Watchdogs
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
For the security of American soldiers and civilians, our leaders must do more than reaffirm their belief in an open, accountab...
Forum Column - By Stephen F. Rohde - Fifty years ago today, the United States Supreme Court issued its historic and unanimous ...
Judges and Judiciary, Appellate Practice
People Deserve the Right to Cite From Unpublished Decisions
By Mike Schmier
Forum Column - By Mike Schmier - Have you been burned by an unpublished appellate opinion that ignored well-established rules ...
Appellate Practice
Oral Argument Earns High Place at Summary Judgment
By Paul D. Fogel , Benjamin G. Shatz
Focus Column - Litigation - By Paul D. Fogel and Benjamin G. Shatz - A motion for summary judgment is probably the most import...
Be prepared to answer a question, but first here are the facts: Stanley Williams, aka "Tookie," murdered the employee of a 7-1...
Focus Column - Appellate Practice - By Herb Fox - Successful trial attorneys counsel their clients well for the rigors and ris...
Constitutional Law, Civil Rights
Justices Must Uphold Constitution, Keep Bush in Check
By Stephen F. Rohde
Forum Column - By Stephen F. Rohde - The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in two critically important cases that p...
Civil Rights
Officers Must Be Accountable for Innocent Victims of Pursuits
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
The state Legislature should enact SB1866, the bill to repeal police immunity for injury-causing police chases where the publi...
Anyone with even a passing interest in punitive damages is aware of the U.S. Supreme Court blockbuster decision in State Fa...
Constitutional Law
State High Court Supports Victims of Abuse by Police
By Robert L. Bastian Jr.
The California Supreme Court's April 5 decision, Venegas v. County of Los Angeles, 2004 DJDAR 4123, is good for victims of pol...
Constitutional Law
Judges Shouldn't Issue Gag Orders to Control High-Profile Cases
By Erwin Chemerinsky
Forum Column - By Erwin Chemerinsky - The judge in the molestation case against Michael Jackson has imposed a broad gag order ...
Criminal
America Must Uphold Rule of Law, Allow Consular Assistance
By Stephen F. Rohde
Forum Column - By Stephen F. Rohde - Imagine you are suddenly arrested in a foreign country and charged with murder. It's a ca...
Judges and Judiciary
Justice Learns What He's Made of: Breakable Parts
By Arthur Gilbert
Last month I performed an unnatural act - not an easy admission for anyone to make, let alone a judge, I mean a state judge. F...