Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/california-supreme-court/)
Are the emails and texts of California government officials who use personal cell phones, note pads or laptops to skirt the state’s public disclosure law still public records?
Like in the jailhouse snitch case, Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals is being asked to remove District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ office from a murder case due to allegations that prosecutors violated the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the right of the DA’s office to disqualify the Superior Court judge presiding over the jailhouse snitch case from other murder cases, but described prosecutors’ actions as an “extraordinary abuse” of the procedure.
The act, for example, does not adequately cover communication via text and emails. But 2016 might be the year courts and policymakers move to close loopholes created by technology.
A summit organized by Orange County and Superior Court officials focused on ways to re-direct the school-to-prison pipeline and lower the chances of repeat crimes.
The nonprofit news organization and Californians Aware were seeking records relating to sex abuse charges against Carlos Bustamante.
California Fair Political Practices Commission is teaming with similar agencies in nine other states to crack down on wrongdoing.
Voice of OC filed suit after county officials refused to release records regarding officials’ actions leading up to Carlos Bustamante’s arrest on sex crimes. The open-government advocacy group Californians Aware has joined the suit.
The developer of a 37-story commercial tower near downtown is selling Original Mike’s and the Santora Arts Building, among others.
The decision to reject activists’ lawsuit means developer Mike Harrah has cleared the final legal hurdle to build a 37-story tower in Santa Ana.