California Legislature Archives

Calif. DAs Win Temporary Restraining Order Preventing Corrections Dept. From Awarding 66% ‘Good Conduct Credits’ to Second-Strikers

January 26, 2022 2:28 amJanuary 25, 2022 8:02 pm

The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation recently enacted so-called “emergency” regulations to allow for additional “good conduct credits” to be awarded to serious and violent felons, and not based upon these felons completing any rehabilitation programs, or in essence,...

California Legislature: Complying with Court Decisions

January 23, 2022 11:33 amJanuary 23, 2022 9:39 am

There are instances in which the California Legislature is required to comply with a court order and some of these court orders are codified by statute and appear in an appropriate Code. The Legislature does this by explaining in the...

Liberally Construing California Statutes

January 21, 2022 10:30 amJanuary 21, 2022 8:59 am

A common feature of statutes is for the legislature to state its intent regarding how courts and the judicial branch should “liberally construe” the statutory provisions adopted by the legislative branch of government. By my count, there are over 250...

A sea of empty desks inside the California State Assembly

California’s General Prohibitions Against Conflicts of Interest

January 21, 2022 8:34 amJanuary 21, 2022 8:42 am

California has extensive conflict of interest provisions applicable to state officials. They are contained in Government Code Title 9, Chapter 7, Article 1, and include General Prohibitions that are set forth in Sections 87100 to 87105, which were added in...

California Statutes Codifying Court Decisions

January 20, 2022 6:17 pmJanuary 20, 2022 4:34 pm

On occasion, the California Legislature codifies in statute reported appellate court decisions. These codifications are helpful because they make clear how the Legislature intends for the courts to interpret the code sections that rely upon the court decision. The following...

California’s Limits on Bill Introductions

January 17, 2022 11:54 amJanuary 17, 2022 12:02 pm

About a quarter of this country’s legislatures, including California, limit the number of bill introductions by their elected officials. According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), over 100,000 bills are introduced annually in state legislatures in...

Why Is the Governor in Article IV of the California Constitution?

January 5, 2022 7:06 amJanuary 5, 2022 7:16 am

When reading the California Constitution, we find that Article IV relates to the legislative branch of state government. Section 1 of Article IV grants lawmaking authority to the Legislature. On the other hand, Article V relates to the executive branch...