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Court ruling could delay California water project
Breaking Legal News |
2014/03/17 13:14
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A state appellate court has ruled that California water officials cannot go onto private property for soil testing and other studies related to construction of two massive tunnels that would siphon water from the Sacramento River.
Nancy Vogel of the state's Department of Water Resources said Friday that officials anticipated the ruling and work won't be delayed.
The decision handed down Thursday by the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal says an intrusion on private property without permission violates the California Constitution.
If built, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan — estimated to cost billions of dollars — would send fresh water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Central and Southern California.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed against the state by more than 150 property owners in Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, Solano and Contra Costa counties.
The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in a 44-page decision with the majority opinion saying the state must adhere to eminent domain laws, which give property owners the right to a jury trial to determine a fair payment for taking away their land.
Acts such as testing soil, observing or trapping animals either by driving onto property, using boats or going on foot amount to "taking" and trigger the need for eminent domain proceedings, the majority opinion said. |
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Court declines to take up Episcopal Church dispute
Court Watch |
2014/03/14 14:05
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The Supreme Court has declined to wade into a dispute between the Episcopal Church and a conservative congregation that left the denomination in a rift over homosexuality and other issues.
The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from The Falls Church, one of seven Virginia congregations that broke away from the Episcopal Church in 2006 and aligned itself with the more conservative Anglican Church of North America.
The breakaway congregation in suburban Washington, D.C., claimed a right to keep the church building and surrounding property. But the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the Episcopal Church retained ownership of the historic church.
The Falls Church was one of seven Virginia congregations that left the Episcopal Church because of theological differences, including the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. |
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Court Watch
Criminal Law |
2014/03/14 14:04
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An appellate court in Chicago says transcripts of FBI wiretaps not played at Rod Blagojevich's corruption trials will remain sealed.
The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals is still mulling its decision on the imprisoned former Illinois governor's request to toss his convictions.
Appellate courts typically unseal documents submitted as part of an appeal. But prosecutors later asked that the transcripts submitted to the appeals court not entered into evidence at the trials remain under seal. Blagojevich's attorneys wanted them opened.
But in its order posted Tuesday, the court said that if it eventually agrees the trial judge erred by not admitting the unplayed wiretaps at trial, they will then be unsealed.
The court's expected to rule on the appeal soon.
Blagojevich is serving a 14-year sentence for multiple corruption convictions. |
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3 California men plead guilty in alleged pot grow
Elite Lawyers |
2014/03/10 13:22
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Three Northern California men are each facing up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that they damaged federal conservation land while allegedly growing marijuana.
Prosecutors say Chou Vang, Vang Pao Yang and Pao Vang, all of Eureka, each entered their pleas in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday to one count of willful injury to federal property.
The men were accused of clearing away trees and vegetation, using fertilizers, and failing to properly dispose of trash while growing pot in the summer of 2012 in the King Range National Conservation Area along California's Lost Coast. The area provides habitat for four federally-listed threatened species, including Chinook and Coho salmon.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors say they dropped marijuana cultivation charges. The men are scheduled to be sentenced in July. |
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Man pleads guilty to sea cucumber smuggling charge
Class Action |
2014/03/10 13:21
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Federal prosecutors in San Diego say a man has pleaded guilty to charges he smuggled 100 pounds of dried sea cucumber into the United States from Mexico.
Sea cucumbers are leathery-skinned marine animals used in some folk medicine practices.
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy says Cheng Zhuo Liu (chuhng joo-oh lee-oo), a resident of Chula Vista, admitted to tucking the sea cucumbers into the spare tire area of his car before crossing the border last October.
According to the US attorney's office, their market value was between $5,000 and $10,000.
The particular species Liu had is protected under international trade rules, and requires a permit for import.
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Court upholds $185 million award against Argentina
Breaking Legal News |
2014/03/07 14:36
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The Supreme Court has upheld a British natural gas company's multimillion dollar award against the government of Argentina.
BG Group won $185 million through arbitration of a dispute with Argentina over investment in natural gas development. An arbitration tribunal said the company did not have to first submit the dispute to Argentine courts before arbitration could begin.
Argentina asked a U.S. court to throw out the award. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., sided with Argentina because it found that judges, not arbitrators, should decide where attempts to resolve the dispute should begin.
But the Supreme Court said Wednesday the arbitrators get to make that call and that they were correct to rule in favor of BG Group in this case. |
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High court sides with parent who fled with child
Current Cases |
2014/03/07 14:35
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The Supreme Court has made it harder for a parent in a custody dispute to seek the immediate return of a child under an international treaty to deter child abduction.
The justices ruled unanimously Wednesday that a one-year clock begins ticking when a child is taken out of its country of residence, even if the parent left behind cannot determine where the child is living. In the one-year period, the Hague Convention on child abduction gives judges little option but to return the child to its home country.
After a year, judges have more discretion and must take account of evidence that the child is settled in its new home. |
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