Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

The issue this case presented for the Court of Appeal's review was whether a lease-back financing plan the City of San Diego (City) adopted to fund public infrastructure improvements violated state and local requirements that municipal indebtedness exceeding annual income and revenue be approved by a two-thirds vote of the electorate. San Diegans for Open Government (SDOG) argued the court erred by entering judgment against it in this reverse validation action on the ground the debt limitation provisions were inapplicable under "Rider v. City of San Diego" because the bonds would not be issued by the City, but by a separate public entity formed under a joint powers agreement. SDOG argued "Rider" was factually distinguishable from this case in numerous respects, and thus it was inapplicable. After review, the Court of Appeal was unpersuaded by SDOG's arguments, and affirmed the judgment. View "San Diegans for Open Government v. San Diego" on Justia Law

In October 2014, the California State Lands Commission (SLC) approved the San Francisco Bay and Delta Sand Mining Project, which authorized real parties in interest Hanson Marine Operations, Inc., Morris Tug & Barge, Inc. and Suisun Associates (collectively, Hanson) to continue dredge mining sand from sovereign lands under the San Francisco Bay pursuant to 10-year mineral extraction leases. San Francisco Baykeeper, Inc. filed a petition for a writ of mandate to challenge the SLC’s decision to approve the project, which the trial court denied. On appeal to the Court of Appeal, Baykeeper argued: (1) the SLC failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and (2) the mineral leases authorized by the SLC’s approval of the project violated the common law public trust doctrine. The Court of Appeal granted the petition, finding that the SLC’s environmental review of the mining project complied with CEQA, but it failed to consider whether the sand mining leases were a proper use of public trust property. The trial court was directed to mandate that the SLC to address this issue. View "S.F. Baykeeper v. Cal. State Lands Com." on Justia Law

This case centered on A.O., a minor who was 12 years old at the time of detention, and her mother, who suffered from bi-polar disorder and exhibited paranoid and aggressive tendencies. The court found jurisdiction over A.O. under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b) and removed her from mother’s care. At the six-month review hearing, the court found that returning A.O. to mother would be detrimental to A.O. and that the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) had provided adequate reunification services. At the twelve-month review hearing, the court terminated reunification services and ordered that A.O. be placed in a Planned Permanent Living Arrangement. Mother appealed the orders from the six- and twelve-month review hearings, and, citing the court’s failure to advise her of her right to appeal after the disposition hearing, she also appealed the jurisdictional findings and dispositional order. After review, the Court of Appeal affirmed jurisdiction and disposition but reversed the court’s findings at the six- and twelve-month review hearings that DPSS had provided reasonable reunification services. View "In re A.O." on Justia Law

AHF sought a writ directing the Department (1) to withdraw its order rejecting and remanding an ALJ’s proposed decision on AHF’s administrative claims against the Department, and (2) to adopt as the “Final Decision” certain portions of the administrative law judge’s proposed decision and to reject other portions. The court concluded that the administrative exhaustion requirement bars AHF’s petition because AHF’s administrative claim is not final and the Department’s administrative processes and procedures were legally adequate and did not violate the law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the trial court's conclusion that AHF was not entitled to judicial review. View "AIDS Healthcare Found. v. State Dept. Health Care Serv." on Justia Law

Jan Goldsmith was the San Diego City Attorney. League of California Cities was an association of 473 California cities and their public officials, which, among other purposes, advocates to protect and restore local control for cities to provide for the public health, safety, and welfare of their residents. Real Party in Interest, San Diegans for Open Government (SDOG), submitted a request under the Public Records Act to the City of San Diego (the City) seeking "[a]ny and all e-mails sent to or from [Jan Goldsmith's personal e-mail account] . . . that pertain in any way to the official business of the City of San Diego." Among other records, the City asserted an exemption to the disclosure of e-mails between a purported legal assistant for the League and attorney members of the League on the grounds they were not public records because they did not concern city business, or were otherwise privileged. SDOG filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the City and Goldsmith to compel disclosure of the e-mails. In a minute order, the trial court directed the City to provide SDOG with a privilege log identifying the documents not produced, along with the legal objection for not producing the documents. After considering the parties' briefing, the trial court declined to perform an in camera review of certain challenged e-mails. The court found the City failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that the e-mails were privileged or exempt under the Act, and ordered the City to produce the e-mails by a certain date. The League filed the instant petition for a peremptory writ of mandate or prohibition in the first instance, or an alternative writ or order to show cause seeking to vacate that part of the court's order requiring disclosure of the e-mails. The Court of Appeal concluded the term "a party," as used in the Act, was not limited to an actual party to the action. Accordingly, the nonparty here had standing to file the instant petition challenging the trial court's order. The Court further concluded the trial court erred by not conducting an in camera review of the documents as requested by the party asserting the documents were exempt from disclosure. Accordingly, we grant the petition and remand the matter for further proceedings. View "League of Cal. Cities v. Super. Ct." on Justia Law

Metro approved the Westside Subway Extension Project in May 2012, which will extend the Metro Purple Line heavy rail transit (HRT) subway system to the Westside of Los Angeles. To reach the Constellation station, the subway will travel through a tunnel to be constructed under Beverly Hills High School. The School District and the City filed petitions for writ of mandate, challenging Metro's approval of the Project. The trial court denied the petitions. The court concluded that substantial evidence supports Metro’s decision not to recirculate the environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (EIS/EIR), and that the EIS/EIR adequately discussed air pollution and public health impacts. The court also concluded that Metro did not violate the statutory requirements in conducting the transit hearing, that the City received a full and fair hearing, and that substantial evidence supports Metro’s decision and findings of fact in light of the issues tendered for hearing. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Beverly Hills USD v. LA Metro." on Justia Law

Chand was treated for his injuries at San Francisco General Hospital and subsequently sued the driver of the car that struck him, among others. Chand settled with the driver for $100,000 and filed a notice of partial settlement. The City of San Francisco Bureau of Delinquent Revenue Collections filed a medical reimbursement lien for approximately $370,000 in Chand’s personal injury case to recover the cost of the medical care it provided to him. Chand moved to expunge the City’s lien. The trial court concluded the City had a valid lien pursuant to section 124 of the San Francisco Health Code, which authorizes it to place a lien on a patient’s recovery from a third party tortfeasor, and rejected Chand’s claims that section 124 is preempted by state law and alternatively determined that the City may rely on section 124 because it is a charter city and its ordinance regulates a municipal affair. The court rejected Chand’s claim that the City waived section 124 when it adopted a subsequent resolution that expanded its options for pursuing medical reimbursement from patients and third parties.The court of appeal affirmed View "Chand v. Bolanos" on Justia Law

The DMV appealed the superior court's grant of plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandate, overturning the suspension of his driver's license. The DMV suspended the license after finding that plaintiff had violated Vehicle Code section 13353.2 by driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more. The superior court found that plaintiff's expert had successfully challenged the scientific validity of the blood test results on which the finding of a violation was based. The court affirmed the superior court's finding that plaintiff's uncontradicted evidence was convincing. View "Najera v. Shiomoto" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Janis McLean, a retired deputy attorney general, appealed a judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained the demurrer of defendants the State of California and the California State Controller’s Office to her class action seeking waiting time penalties under Labor Code section 2031 for the failure to comply with the prompt payment requirements of section 202. She argued the trial court erred in ruling that the term "quits" in sections 202 and 203 did not apply to employees who quit in order to retire. The Court of Appeal agreed that in the context of sections 202 and 203, requirements applying to employees who quit also apply to employees who quit to retire. The Court therefore reversed the judgment as to the State of California. However, because the Court held that it was unnecessary to name the California State Controller’s Office as a defendant, and affirmed the judgment of dismissal as to the controller’s office. View "McLean v. California" on Justia Law

A.S. (mother) and P.B. (father) appealed orders asserting dependency jurisdiction over their children, N.S. and J.S., and removing the children from their custody. In a partially published opinion, the Court of Appeal held that there was sufficient evidence to support the removal of the children from both parents based on domestic violence. Furthermore, the Court held that, even though the father’s 1997 Kentucky conviction for second degree sexual abuse was a misdemeanor under Kentucky law, it constituted a "violent felony" for purposes of the denial of reunification services under California law. The Court modified the jurisdictional findings, and affirmed the jurisdictional and dispositional orders of the trial court. View "In re J.S." on Justia Law