National Courts Monitor

Traffic in West L.A. in October. Black drivers in California were found to be arrested at higher rates than whites for driving with licenses suspended because of unpaid tickets, a new report found. (Axel Koester / For the Times)

If anyone thought Ferguson. Mo., was then only place in America with a tickets-to-jail pipeline (and maybe nobody did), a new Los Angeles Times report sets them straight. It seems there’s not only a pipeline, but that African Americans and Latinos are more likely than others to lose their driver’s license because of unpaid tickets – and then to be arrested for driving with suspended licenses.

The LAT explains that the “… Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, examined U.S. Census Bureau data, records from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and information from 15 police and sheriff’s departments in the state to document by race the impact of unpaid traffic fines. Part of the report says that “… individuals who cannot afford to pay an infraction citation are being arrested, jailed and prosecuted, and are losing their licenses and their livelihoods,” the report said. “The communities impacted by these policies are disproportionately communities of color.”

A few items from the report:

— In Los Angeles County, black people make up 9.2% of the population but accounted for 33% of those arrested for driving with a suspended license from September 2013 to September 2015, while whites represent 26.8% the county but accounted for only 14.8% of those arrested at that time for driving with a suspended license.

— During that time, 85% of 20,000 people arrested by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department for driving with suspended licenses were black and Latino, according to the report.

— In San Francisco, 5.8% of the population is black, but 48.7% of those arrested for traffic warrants in 2014 and 2015 were African American. Whites make up 41.2% of the city’s population but accounted for only 22.7% of the arrests, according to the lawyers’ group.

Read the Times story here:
A disproportionate share of blacks and Latinos lose their driver’s licenses because of unpaid tickets, study finds

Health, Agency for Health Care Administration, Department of Children & Families, lawsuit

by NCM Staff

Updated: April 12, 2016

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The Miami Herald has published a deep-dive into that recently settled lawsuit over funding for low-income youth healthcare. The paper backgrounds: “A federal court judge in Miami sided with needy children and their doctors in a 153-page ruling in December 2014, saying state lawmakers had so starved the Florida Medicaid program of funding that it was operating in violation of federal law.

“In the ensuing months, health administrators — at the urging of U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan, who presided over the trial — mediated the dispute with lawyers for the children and the state Pediatric Society. The negotiations yielded a settlement with the heads of the state Department of Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Children & Families, all of whom were parties to the litigation.

“Though state leaders had continued the battle even after Jordan’s stunning ruling, healthcare for needy children had become a public relations nightmare for the state.”
It’s a great look into a true crisis and how a lawsuit was the only thing that might have brought everybody to the solution table:

Florida deal could finally improve healthcare for poor children

Paper Reports On Little-Known Option For ‘Border Kids’ In U.S.

by NCM Staff

Updated: April 8, 2016

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A U.S. Border Patrol agent detains juvenile undocumented immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2015 at La Grulla, Texas. The number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Central America has surged in recent months. Photo Credit, San Diego Union Tribune report, 3/11/16

Remember that influx of “border kids” from two summers ago? The owes who showed up at the border, often unaccompanied, asking for asylum? Well, the San Diego Union-Tribune has a great story about a little-used program that is allowing many to stay in the country on a path to a green card – in effect, bypassing the overworked parts of the immigration system.

The paper offers some background: More than 100,000 [border-crossing] children since 2014 have been released to sponsors — usually family members or relatives — with more than 11,000 settling in California, federal data shows. Los Angeles has received 5,776, the largest number of any county in the state. San Diego has received a fraction of that, some 359

The report outlines what is known as “Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status” and said such documents “… filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Service has increased 187 percent from 2013 through last year, records show. The number of those petitions that have been approved has also risen sharply, from 3,431 in 2013 to 8,739 in 2015, according to government data.

The point, says the Times-Union, is that “… getting status as a Special Immigrant Juvenile can be important, since it paves the way for recipients to become lawful permanent residents — getting a “green card” that allows them to live legally in the U.S. Advocates see it as a humanitarian step available only to those children who are fleeing abuse, neglect or who have been abandoned in their home countries. But some critics say the program highlights a weakness in the immigration system that opens a backdoor for some to get legal status.”

It’s an interesting report even for those following the immigration situation fairly closely:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/11/unaccompanied-minors-legal-program/

RICO Lawsuits Shape Legal Marijuana Landscape

by NCM Staff

Posted: April 7, 2016

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A budtender pours marijuana from a jar at Perennial Holistic Wellness Center medical marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles, July 25, 2012. Photo Credit, International Business Times report, 3/25/16

It’s not exactly news that litigation can have serious impact even if it gets dismissed or dropped. And the International Business Times has a truly cautionary tale out of Colorado. The story is about how recent court victories set net legal milestones but the legal marijuana industry has a long way to go.

Part of the story details how one man lost his business in litigation that never even made it to the discovery phase. The marijuana dispensary owner was doing well, says the IBT, but “… when he made arrangements in 2015 to move to a nearby location and expand his operation to include recreational marijuana sales, the Holiday Inn located next door to the new spot pre-emptively sued Olson as well as the owner of the property he was going to occupy, his bank, his bonding firm, his accounting company and others associated with his business, alleging the marijuana shop would be a detriment to the hotel’s business. The affiliated companies were eventually dropped from the suit once they either severed ties with Olson or reached cash settlements with the hotel. As part of its deal with the landowner, the Holiday Inn purchased the property Olson was going to use. In November, with only Olson left as a defendant, Holiday Inn dropped its lawsuit before the case reached discovery. By that point, Olson, who said he heard a doughnut shop and housing were going to be built on the site, no longer had a dispensary. The lease on his old location had expired and, inundated with legal fees, he couldn’t afford to relaunch his business elsewhere.”

Read the excellent report here:

Marijuana Legalization Movement Just Won Multiple Courtroom Battles, But Will That Be Enough to Quash Future Legal Threats?

California City Remains A Lesson In Pot’s Unintended Consequences

by NCM Staff

Posted: April 6, 2016

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Robert Taft Jr., director of the licensed 420 Central dispensary, with Ocean Grown Jack Herer sativa. “I’m fighting for the patients we have. People want to go to a safe store.” Photo Credit, Orange County Register report, 3/29/16

Confusion and civil lawsuits abound in the Orange County, California city of Santa Ana over legal marijuana sales –and the fringe shops that may or may not be legal.

Attorney Arthur Travieso is representing a shop called Live2Love and four other unlicensed pot shops in lawsuits against Santa Ana, claiming the city’s lottery process was unfair because it allowed multiple entries by the same individuals, as long they applied and paid a $1,690 fee. Some shops also say they are legal under the state’s medical marijuana law and don’t have to follow city regulations.

The OC Register newspaper also notes that “… Santa Ana police garnered unwelcome international attention after a May raid caught on video showed officers forcing Sky High customers to the ground and eating merchandise. Three officers involved in the raid were charged this month with petty theft and vandalism.” And, you guessed it, that brought more lawsuits.

Read the cautionary tale here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-709935-shops-pot.html

Report: Blacks, Latinos More Likely To Lose License Over Unpaid Tickets

Health, Agency for Health Care Administration, Department of Children & Families, lawsuit

Paper Reports On Little-Known Option For ‘Border Kids’ In U.S.

RICO Lawsuits Shape Legal Marijuana Landscape

California City Remains A Lesson In Pot’s Unintended Consequences