User:Alejandortiz/AZ 100 sandbox

California

• In January 2012, federal judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the parts of 2008's Proposition 9 ("Marsy's Law") that govern the revocation of parole in certain circumstances are unconstitutional. Karlton said those parts of Proposition 9 "violate parolees' right to a neutral decision-maker by placing a thumb on the scale of justice and tipping the balance towards incarceration."

• In January 2012, the California Supreme Court ruled that the State Senate redistricting maps generated by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission pursuant to 2008's Proposition 11 must be used throughout the elections of 2012, even if it ultimately turns out that the Referendum Challenging the State Senate Maps qualifies for the ballot.

• A lawsuit was filed to prevent the opponents of Davis Joint Unified School District parcel tax, Measure C from making arguments in the official ballot pamphlet against the process of using an all mail-in ballot election. This lawsuit failed. On January 23, 2012, Judge Sammuel McAdam wrote in his ruling, "Granda is well within his right to challenge the mail-in procedure in the Argument against attacking both the substance and the process of the parcel tax issue. In other words, the substance and the procedure of any election are inherently relevant to each other. The voters will decide whether his opinion and argument have any merit."

• A lawsuit was filed in February 2012 to remove the San Diego Pension Reform Initiative, Proposition B (June 2012) from the ballot on the grounds that two elected city officials spoke in favor of it and that therefore, although sponsored by private citizens, it runs afoul of the city's so-called "meet-and-confer provision". That provision in the city's labor contracts requires the city to meet-and-confer with designated public sector union representatives when a change to the city's labor agreements is under consideration. Since a "meet-and-confer" meeting did not take place and would have had to take place (according to a February ruling of the California Public Employee Relations Board), the existence of the initiative may amount to an unfair labor practice. According to Joan Raymond, the president of AFSCME Local 127 in San Diego, "(The ruling) adds credence to what we've been saying all along during this initiative process, that it is a city-sponsored initiative and there is no way Sanders was acting as a private citizen." Carl DeMaio, a supporter of the initiative, said, "I am completely confident that the courts will dismiss this desperate lawsuit and uphold the constitutionally protected right of citizens to place measures on the ballot through the initiative process."

• A lawsuit was filed on March 15, 2012 by Robin Johansen of Remcho, Johansen & Purcell seeking to remove the San Jose Pension Reform Question from the city's June 5, 2012 ballot on the grounds that the ballot question is misleadingly prejudicial in favor of a "yes" vote. Johansen's complaint says, "The code says it has to be fair and impartial, not an argument for the measure. When you look at the kinds of emotionally laden words -- reform and abuse, essential services -- those are very strongly worded phrases intended to get people to vote for the measure."

• The City of Costa Mesa filed a lawsuit against Orange County in mid-March 2012. The city filed its ballot language for a proposed city charter proposition with the county a day late. The city asks that the county nevertheless place the measure on the June 5, 2012 ballot. The county clerk is filing a statement with the court in favor of the complaint. Groups in Costa Mesa that oppose the city charter change have chosen not to contest the issue of whether it goes on the June 5, 2012 ballot or, because it was technically filed a day late, the November 6, 2012 ballot.

• U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled in March 2012 that for the purposes of sponsoring and circulating petitions in California, corporations do not have that as a core right: "The state constitution makes clear that this initiative power belongs to people. Neither corporations nor unincorporated associations are mentioned." This ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by Chula Vista Citizens for Jobs and Fair Competition and the Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. against Chula Vista. The lawsuit was filed because the City of Chula Vista had not allowed the groups to be the official proponents of a measure to ban Project Labor Agreements.

• Steve Nelson filed a lawsuit that sought to force a change in the way the Mountain View Whisman School District describes Measure G. Nelson said in his lawsuit that the school district "was trying to scare the public into supporting the measure by overstating the risk of asbestos and lead at district schools." Santa Clara County Superior Court judge Kevin McKenney denied Nelson's motion, saying that the plaintiff presented insufficient evidence in support of his claim.

• A 3-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on April 2, 2012 voted to uphold Proposition 209 (1996), the ban on the use of affirmative action by government agencies, including universities. The same federal appeals court had previously upheld Proposition 209. The lawsuit that led to the April 2012 ruling had claimed that a new ruling was required by new evidence showing that in the years after the adoption of Proposition 209, minority admissions to the state's "most prestigious" universities declined.