This past election, California voters chose to join the ranks of their northern neighbors Oregon and Washington, along with Alaska, Colorado, and Massachusetts, to legalize the use of recreational marijuana. California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative (also referred to as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act), is the…
San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
Voter Intimidation by Law Enforcement in California
An investigation into voter fraud by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office has caught the attention of the California State Attorney General’s Office for possible voter intimidation. According to the ABC affiliate KDRV, about a week before the primary, deputies went door-to-door with loaded rifles to the homes of Asian Americans…
Leaders of Oregon Wildlife Refuge Standoff are Acquitted of Federal Charges
In a stunning loss for federal prosecutors, a jury has acquitted the leaders of the 41-day occupation and standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The Portland jury acquitted Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five others of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the Malheur…
California Attorney General Investigating Wells Fargo on Allegations of Criminal Identity Theft
A month after the national news broke that 5,300 Wells Fargo employees were fired for opening two million phony accounts, the California Department of Justice just announced it is investigating the bank on allegations of criminal identity theft over the creation of these accounts. The California DOJ sent over a…
California Enacts Law Penalizing Secret Recordings at Planned Parenthood
California governor Jerry Brown just signed into law A.B. 1671, which would punish the dissemination of secret recordings with health care providers. The bill was sponsored and lobbied by Planned Parenthood in response to the videos released by the Orange County-based Center for American Progress last summer. It is reported…
Criminal, Creepy Clowns Flood Southern California
It recently made national headlines that a creepy clown craze has swept the globe. Across the nation, police have received reports of people in creepy clown costumes trying to lure children or scare people. While the state of California seems to have escaped it the past several months, creepy clowns…
If Pot is Legalized, it Can Still Have Big Consequences for Certain Immigrants
This November, California voters will choose whether they want to legalize marijuana. California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative (also referred to as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act), will be on the state’s November 8, 2016, ballot as an initiated state statute. However, it is reported by…
Actress Shailene Woodley Arrested for Protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline
Last week, Divergent actress and activist Shailene Woodley was arrested for criminal trespassing while peacefully protesting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. This was confirmed by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and also posted on the actresses’ Instagram feed. Woodley had tried to film and live-stream her incident on Facebook, which…
Experts Say No Clear Criminal Case Over Trump Tax Disclosure
In the latest controversy surrounding Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the New York Times reportedly published Trump’s tax documents without his permission. The story that ran concluded that Trump declared $916 million in losses in 1995. This amount is large enough to wipe out more than $50 million a year…
As Election Season Looms, More Criminal Law Reforms Signed into Law
While Prop. 47 has been in the headlines with all the reforms in California criminal law, Governor Jerry Brown has quietly signed yet another group of criminal reform laws effective in 2017. Last week, Brown signed into law: S.B. 1134: sponsored by Sens. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Joel Anderson…