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Defendants’ petitions for writ of prohibition/mandate arising from the district attorney’s proceedings for civil commitment against them as sexually violent predators (SVP) are granted as Code of Civil Procedure section 1985(b) requires that a subpoena duces tecum be served with an affidavit setting forth in full detail the materiality of the items sought by the subpoena, and thus, the trial court erred by ordering Coalinga State Hospital (CHS) to comply with the issued subpoenas and with unspecified future subpoenas containing similar subject matters....

Parents often take photos of their babies in funny places like a laundry hamper or a soup pot, but what Brittany Lester did to her baby wasn’t funny. It was child abuse. Lester took photos of her five week old baby in dangerous places around her motel room, including between the mattress and box spring, in the toilet, and in the trash. Then she sent them to her ex, the baby’s dad, as way to “get a response,” according to The Smoking Gun....

A monkey rampage in Ohio left authorities scrambling. That’s what happened when an escaped pet monkey scratches girls in Ohio, leading police and neighbors on a 2.5 hour chase for the wild animal. The animal escaped from its owner, Cecilia A. Pinkston, 44, running amok around the neighborhood, reports the Sandusky Register. Two girls were chased by the monkey. The monkey grabbed one girl’s leg, and didn’t let go until it jumped onto the other girl’s head....

Give a hug, get detention. Or maybe not. An outcry erupted last week when Principal Tyler Blackmore of Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School in New Jersey announced a no hugging policy over the school’s loudspeaker. He told approximately 900 students that they were now attending a “no hugging school.” The hugging ban was put in place after Blackmore witnessed some “unsuitable, physical interactions.” He seems to have forgotten what it’s like to be a young teen....

In what’s become a political ping pong match dating back to 1990, the most recent play by SCOTUS, denied California Governor Jerry Brown’s application to stay a court order requiring California to reduce its prison population. Six justices, with the exception of Justices Alito, Scalia and Thomas, denied the Governor’s application for stay. The court order required California to ease prison overcrowding by providing early release to certain prisoners. The state and law enforcement expressed grave concern over a drastic influx of prisoners into society....

It’s not always easy to deal with stubborn clients. Sometimes you have to tell them to follow a judge’s orders. Even if they really don’t want to. NYC artist Andy Golub’s attorney can surely relate. You see, Mr. Golub has a thing for public nudity. The artist is known for body painting nude women. OK, no biggie, right? Well, Golub insists on creating his works of art in Times Square in broad daylight....

Order denying defendant’s motion to vacate summary judgment and forfeiture and exonerate bond is reversed where: 1) it was sufficient that a defendant was surrendered to custody outside the county in the underlying case within the 180-day period; and 2) the summary judgment was void as the defendant was surrendered to custody within 180 days and thus the court lacked jurisdiction to enter summary judgment on the forfeited bond. Read People v....

Commuter Rail Div. v. Surface Transp. Bd., No. 08-1346, involved a petition for review of the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the acquisition of certain railroads by another railroad. The court of appeals denied the petition, holding that 1) one petitioner lacked standing because, if the board’s decision were overturned, the construction authorization would not be affected and no new environmental impact statement would be required for the area; and 2) the board did not abuse its discretion in approving the transaction....

A Salt Lake City, Utah, teen filed a federal lawsuit against her school district in order to have the same right as boys to choose which wrestling team she joins. Yesterday, news broke on Twitter that the federal court judge approved the emergency injunction, which was requested at the time of filing the lawsuit, that will allow her to wrestle in the upcoming season which is close to starting. Kathleen is 15, but unlike 15-year-old boys in her junior high, she was not allowed to choose whether she wanted to wrestle on the high school team or the junior high team....

In plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a city for adopting a resolution condemning him for hiring a private investigator to conduct surveillance of the city manager, trial court’s grant of city’s anti-SLAPP motion is reversed as plaintiff’s 1983 action is based on conduct that qualifies for protection under the anti-SLAPP statute and plaintiff made a prima facie showing of success on the merits where his evidence would support findings that: 1) he was engaged in conduct protected by the First Amendment rights to petition and right of free speech; 2) the city took adverse action in response to his conduct with the intent to retaliate against him and deter that conduct; and 3) the city’s adverse action caused injuries that would deter a person of ordinary firmness from engaging in that conduct....

Last week, in the midst of the student loan interest crisis, we looked at different options for dealing with paying back student loans. Though Congress has a fix – for now – the burden of student loan repayment looms large over many graduates’ heads. Still desperate and considering bankruptcy? Hate to say we told you so, but that’s not going to happen. In two recent cases, two different courts ruled that students could not discharge their student debts through bankruptcy....

Petition for Review of Addition to EPA National Priority List In US Magnesium, LLC v. EPA, No. 09-1269, a petition for review of the addition of petitioner’s magnesium plant to the EPA’s National Priorities List, the court denied the petition where the EPA followed the Hazard Ranking System precisely in scoring the air migration pathway and affirmation of the EPA on that first issue resulted in a score above the cutoff for inclusion on the NPL, and thus listing of petitioner’s site on the NPL was not arbitrary or capricious....

Virginia will become the first state to legalize and regulate online fantasy sports this summer. This week, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the Fantasy Contests Act, which requires daily fantasy sites like DraftKings and FanDuel to register and submit annual audits to the state. While other states have been lining up to designate daily fantasy sites as illegal gambling operations, Virginia seems to be moving in the opposite direction, perhaps looking to cash in on daily fantasy rather than outlaw it....

Congrats future 1L’s! You should be starting your new career as a law student any day now. You should be especially happy with your choice, now that legal hiring is finally starting to rebound. Three years from now and you should be living it up as a greedy associate – or maybe one of those happy lawyers. But let’s not look too far into the future. What should you expect right at the beginning, when you first show up on campus?...

Not surprisingly, the Trump administration nominee for the position of General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Peter Robb, has recently been confirmed. Also not surprising, President Trump, who is heavily pro-business rather than pro-labor, nominated an attorney that is known to be anti-union, in addition to padding the board with conservative, pro-employer, board members. For the first time in over a decade, Republicans have control of the NLRB, though the past decade has been mired by controversy held over from the Bush Administration....

Not every marriage proposal is a good idea. And, judging from Reddit’s Relationships section, some of you made some very bad choices recently. Whether you proposed “whilst drunk on New Year’s Eve” or took a knee on Christmas and are regretting it already, the biggest issue in most broken engagements is who gets the ring. Here’s what you need to know: Whether you can get an engagement ring back following nixed nuptials will depend on state law, and how the state treats the ring:...

A not-so-happy “Happy Birthday to You” lawsuit insists the popular song belongs to the public, and not to Warner/Chappell Music Inc., the publishing division of Warner Music Group. A proposed class action suit requests that a federal court deem the song’s rightful place to be in the public domain. As it’s been more than 120 years since the melody and lyrics were first published, Warner is wrongfully and unlawfully claiming ownership to “Happy Birthday to You,” the lawsuit asserts....

Yes, judges behave badly, too. But when they behave badly, it makes lawyers and courts look bad. Judge Cory Woodward of Kern County Superior Court had an “intimate relationship” with a courtroom clerk. That alone would be a problem. Woodward, though, went above and beyond the call of duty by passing her sexy notes during court, exchanging personal emails and texts at work, letting her call him by an overly familiar nickname at the courthouse, making an “inappropriate sexual gesture” to her while a member of the public was in the courtroom, and – oh yeah – having sex with her in chambers....

Lateral attorney hires aren’t always in the same boat as fresh-from-school hires. Anyone who’s ever worked at a big firm will tell you that Big Law politics aren’t easy to navigate. If you’re making a lateral move from another big firm, then you might have some understanding on what to expect as a newly hired lateral attorney. Whether you’re coming from a big firm or a small firm, there are some things you should know about making a lateral move....

Adrian Peterson and the NFL Players Association have won their appeal of Peterson’s indefinite suspension. A U.S. District Court judge has overturned an arbitrator’s ruling that previously upheld the NFL’s suspension of Peterson following his indictment on child abuse charges. The Peterson ruling comes three months after an arbitrator tossed the league’s suspension of Ray Rice, claiming the NFL essentially punished Rice twice for the same offense. The Case Against AP Allegations that Peterson beat his 4-year old son with a switch surfaced last summer....