California Municipal Law Blog
category:
Uncategorised

The Fair Chance Act: Applicants with Criminal Convictions

by on February 29, 2024

posted in Administrative Regulations, Employment Law, Uncategorised,

The Fair Chance Act is a California Law enacted in 2017 (and took effect on January 1, 2018) that is part of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (Government Code 12952 et. seq.) prohibiting employers with five or more employees from asking applicants about criminal convictions before making job offers to them.  In some places these laws are referred to as “Ban The Box” laws. What exactly does this Act prohibit? 1. Employers cannot list questions on job application forms asking about criminal conviction history before a conditional job offer is made. 2. Employers cannot ask about ... Continue Reading

tags:

Judicial Council Limits Courts from Processing or Hearing Eviction Lawsuits

by on April 7, 2020

posted in Landlord-Tenant, Uncategorised,

As we  explained in a previous post, the Governor very recently issued an executive order that limited landlords’ abilities to evict tenants during the COVID-19 public-health emergency.  Yesterday, the Judicial Council—the agency with oversight of California courts—enacted several emergency rules affecting a wide variety of courtroom procedures.  One of these rules addresses “unlawful detainer,” or eviction, proceedings.  As many cities have enacted their own emergency eviction measures, and other cities are considering doing the same, this latest development is important to note.  ... Continue Reading

tags: COVID-19, Evictions, Unlawful Detainer,

OUR RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A MESSAGE TO OUR CLIENTS

by on March 17, 2020

posted in Uncategorised,

Cole Huber LLP finds itself in a unique situation because of the novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) public-health emergency.  As a business, our law firm—like all businesses statewide—has implemented the measures the Governor and public health authorities have directed to stop COVID-19’s spread. At the same time, because  of our work for local governments, we have taken important measures to ensure our public clients continue receiving responsive and effective legal services from us during this period of critical need.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Shelter in Place, Social Distancing,

Proposition 26 Does Not Impose A Fundamental Right To Vote On Limited Purpose Assessments

by on July 8, 2018

posted in Propositions 13/26/218, Recent Court Decisions, Uncategorised,

The electorate does not have a fundamental right to vote on an assessment levied upon a specific group of taxpayers for a limited (non-general governmental) purpose, a California Appellate court found in Reid et al. v. City of San Diego et al.  In Reid, plaintiffs challenged a two percent assessment levied on lodging businesses operating in the City with 70 or more sleeping rooms by the City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District (TMD) to fund coordinated joint marketing and promotional activities for tourism development as violative of Proposition 26 and the Equal Protection Clause, among ... Continue Reading

tags: Proposition 26, tourism marketing district,

The Feds’ New Lawsuit Against State “Sanctuary City” Laws: What’s At Issue

by on March 13, 2018

posted in Law Enforcement, Legislative Updates, Uncategorised,

On March 7, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a lawsuit challenging California’s “sanctuary” state laws.  This is only one in a series of actions that Attorney General Sessions’ has taken to curtail “sanctuary” efforts in the United States. While the term “sanctuary” city or state does not have a precise definition, it generally refers to a jurisdiction that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.  The idea behind a “sanctuary” city or state is to reduce the fear of deportation among immigrants living in a jurisdiction illegally, ... Continue Reading

tags: AB 103, AB 450, Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, Jeff Sessions, Sanctuary City, SB 54,