WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court began a potentially contentious election-year term Monday in seeming general agreement that juries in state criminal trials must be unanimous to convict a defendant. The justices took up a quirk of constitutional law, a 47-year-old ruling that requires unanimity in federal, but not state trials....
Walters: The Darker Side of Regulation
Assembly Bill 1133 would appear to be one of the least important of the 700-plus measures that the Legislature sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom in the final days of its 2019 session. Sponsored primarily by Anheuser-Busch and the Teamsters Union, AB 1133 would allow brewers to provide, free of charge, up...
Supreme Court to Hear Abortion Regulation Case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to plunge into the abortion debate in the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign, taking on a Louisiana case that could reveal how willing the more conservative court is to chip away at abortion rights. The justices will examine a Louisiana law requiring...
Top UK Court: Johnson’s Suspension of Parliament Was Illegal
LONDON — In a major blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain's highest court ruled Tuesday that his decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the crucial countdown to the country's Brexit deadline was illegal. The unanimous, strongly worded Supreme Court judgment declared Johnson's order to suspend Parliament "void and of...
Will Fresno Council Support DACA? Vote at Next Meeting.
The Fresno City Council will weigh in on an issue of nationwide importance at Thursday's meeting. Councilman Miguel Arias wants his colleagues to support filing a friend of the court brief on behalf of the DACA case at the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald Trump is trying to end DACA,...
Walters: California Tax Votes Clouded by Legal Confusion
The state Supreme Court stirred up a legal hornet’s nest two years ago when it suggested — but didn’t explicitly declare — that a two-thirds vote requirement for specific local tax increases might not apply to measures placed on the ballot via initiative petition. The supermajority vote requirement dates back...
Walters: Newsom Wheels and Deals on Big Issues
Gavin Newsom wasn’t born when the TV game show “Let’s Make a Deal” began its run but he’s channeling its host, Monty Hall, during the final days of his first legislative session as governor. Every few days, it seems, Newsom announces that he and legislative leaders have agreed on one...
Fresno's Parks Tax Likely Headed to State Supreme Court
Explaining why she didn't decide Wednesday whether voters passed Measure P, Judge Kimberly Gaab stated the obvious — no matter what she ruled, the case probably is going to the state's Supreme Court. The question awaiting an answer: If a tax for a specific purpose is placed on the ballot...
Fresno's Parks Tax Likely Headed to State Supreme Court
Explaining why she didn't decide Wednesday whether voters passed Measure P, Judge Kimberly Gaab stated the obvious — no matter what she ruled, the case probably is going to the state's Supreme Court. The question awaiting an answer: If a tax for a specific purpose is placed on the ballot...
Israeli Crews Demolish Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli work crews on Monday began demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes on the outskirts of an east Jerusalem neighborhood, in one of the largest operations of its kind in years. The demolitions capped a years-long legal battle over the buildings, constructed near the invisible line straddling the city...