Tag: California courts
California Courts and the Legislature Amending an Initiative Statute
California’s Constitution, in Article II, Section 10(c) sets forth the authority of the Legislature to change the language of a statutory initiative (i.e., an initiative passed by the voters that added or amended statutory language, rather than a constitutional initiative)....
California Courts and Ex Post Facto Laws
What is an “ex post facto” law? This phrase comes from Latin that basically means “after the fact” and its describes when a law is changed retroactively to capture previous conduct and subject that conduct to legal consequences. Ex post...
California Courts and Sunset Clauses in Statutes
Sunset clauses, or more properly “repeal clauses,” are used when the Legislature sets a finite time period for a statute to be “on the books.” The repeal date (or more commonly called a sunset date) is set forth in statute...
California Courts and the Legislative Open Records Act
The main appellate court case involving the Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) is Zumbrun Law Firm v. California Legislature (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 1603, review denied. In that case, according to the courts, the Legislature’s response to a LORA record request satisfied the...
California Courts and Urgency Clauses in Statutes
Urgency clause measures in the California Legislature are one of four types of bills that take effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature, rather than the standard January 1 following the bill’s enactment. So, how have the California courts interpreted bills...
California Court Decisions on Statutory Construction of Ballot Measures
An important topic, as voters consider 10 measures on the California statewide ballot in November, is how these and other ballot measures are often interpreted by California courts. As a result, this article sets forth a number of applicable quotes...