The California Supreme Court has some explaining to do. Late last year, the city of Oakland put a new land parcel tax on the books, after 62 percent of voters turned out to boost funding for public education. Now a local business group is suing the city, arguing that the new tax...
High Court Lets Military Implement Transgender Restrictions
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration can go ahead with its plan to restrict military service by transgender men and women while court challenges continue, the Supreme Court said Tuesday. The high court split 5-4 in allowing the plan to take effect, with the court's five conservatives greenlighting it and its...
Ginsburg Misses Supreme Court Arguments for 1st Time
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is missing arguments for the first time in more than 25 years as she recuperates from cancer surgery last month, the Supreme Court said. Ginsburg was not on the bench as the court met Monday to hear arguments. It was not clear when she...
Walters: Should California Make It Easier to Practice Law?
Does California have too many lawyers, or too few? That’s the unspoken question underlying a complicated debate within California’s legal community over whether the examination that would-be attorneys must pass to be licensed is too difficult. The passage rate on the State Bar’s July test, released in November, plummeted to...
Judge’s Ruling on ‘Obamacare’ Poses New Problems for GOP
WASHINGTON — A federal judge's ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans, who've seen the politics of health care flip as Americans increasingly value the overhaul's core parts, including protections for pre-existing medical conditions and Medicaid for more low-income people. While the decision...
Walters: Pension Benefits Hinge on State Supreme Court Case
California’s public employee unions suffered a potentially heavy blow this year when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that they could not charge “fair share fees” to non-members. Union leaders and their political allies – essentially the entire Democratic Party – feared that the ruling (Janus vs. AFSCME) would entice many...
Justices Won’t Hear States’ Appeal Over Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday avoided a high-profile case by rejecting appeals from Kansas and Louisiana in their effort to strip Medicaid money from Planned Parenthood, over the dissenting votes of three justices. The court's order reflected a split among its conservative justices and an accusation from Justice...
Taxes Are Bigger Part of Online Shopping This Season
WASHINGTON — Shoppers heading online to purchase holiday gifts will find they're being charged sales tax at some websites where they weren't before. The reason: the Supreme Court. A June ruling gave states the go-ahead to require more companies to collect sales tax on online purchases. Now, more than two...
Supreme Court Restricts the Reach of Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court, on an 8-0 vote, ordered a lower court to take a new look at a federal agency's designation of Louisiana timberland as a critical habitat for an endangered frog found only in Mississippi. The court ruled Tuesday in a case involving a 1,500-acre tract owned...
Sandra Day O’Connor Announces Likely Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
WASHINGTON — Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, announced Tuesday that she has the beginning stages of dementia, "probably Alzheimer's disease." The 88-year-old said in a public letter that her diagnosis was made some time ago and that as her condition has progressed she is "no...