The Law of Rebuilding LA

On the concluding day of confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, senators heard not from the nominee but rather 26 witnesses offering both support and opposition for Kavanaugh. Anna-Rose Mathieson (Cal. Appellate Law Group) recounts the day's most salient testimony, and other themes from the week.

Senators sparred over - and throughout the day released - documents Democratic members claimed the majority party had designated for committee review only, hoping to shed more light on Brett Kavanaugh's views on, among other things, abortion and executive power; the nominee largely parried a second round of questioning, on issues ranging from LGBT rights, campaign finance, immigration, affirmative action, &c. Ben Feuer (Chairman, Cal. Appellate Law Group) joins to the discuss the day's hearings.

A tumultuous first day of confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh saw senators spar at length over the adequacy of provided documents, amidst frequent verbal protests from the gallery. Democratic senators also previewed likely lines of attack over the next few days, once questioning of Kavanaugh begins. Blaine Evanson (Gibson Dunn) visits to unpack the day's events.

After successive, sudden departures of Judges Pregerson, Kozinski, and Reinhardt, the 9th Circuit's varying approach to deciding pending cases on which the judges worked has drawn attention and some criticism; Professor Arthur Hellman (Pitt Law) and reporter Nick Sonnenburg discuss.

While the Weekly Appellate Report is on a brief summer hiatus, revisit an earlier episode exploring the new test California courts have begun to apply when figuring whether hired workers are employees or independent contractors. The state high court created the "ABC Test" in May; since then a few courts have applied it, while gig-economy titans have fought the new doctrine, which some deem unduly tilted toward "employee" designations, in Sacramento.

In the second episode of Courts & Capital, it discusses attorneys who fight for the Civil Rights of...Sex Offenders. Attorney Janice M. Bellucci has a tough job: suing the Dept. of Corrections and local governments over for infringing on the rights of sex offenders. As the executive director of the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws, she has forced cities to drop residency restrictions, defeated an attempt to disenfranchise voters at a state hospital, and is still battling to make sex offenders eligible for early release under Prop. 57. She joins us today to talk about the many types of laws and legal cases involved in this highly varied and sometimes thankless work.

A split 9th Circuit panel Tuesday deemed open public firearm carry a "core" Second Amendment right, and struck down a Hawaii permitting regime limiting public carry to those showing a special need. The plaintiff's co-counselors, Alan Beck (L/O of Alan Beck) and Stephen Stamboulieh (Stamboulieh Law PLLC), explain the majority's reasoning, and Hannah Shearer (Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence) unpacks Judge Clifton's dissent, and explains how this ruling fits within the broader Second Amendment jurisprudence, as the question of "special need" or "good cause" permitting regimes percolates up to the Supreme Court.

The second episode of the DJ on the J.D., the Daily Journal’s legal education podcast, focuses on hybrid law degrees. Some law schools in California are planning to launch these programs featuring significant online learning components in the near future. Jackie Gardina, dean of the Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law, and Vermont Law School professor Oliver Goodenough join host Lyle Moran to discuss hybrid degrees. Podcast edited by Nick Perez

Three guests offer a range of views on the potential next U.S. Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh. Justin Walker (UL Brandeis SOL), a former Kavanaugh clerk, shares why he believes the circuit judge to be both an honorable person and peerless jurist; Gayle Trotter champions the pick and Kavanaugh's originalist bona fides; Sanford Levinson (Univ. Texas SOL)worries that Kavanaugh is a movement conservative whose selection tilts the Court further right than the country as a whole.

In this first episode of Courts & Capital, it'll cover the #MeToo scandal across California, specifically hitting the state's Legislature hard. What are the legal standards in harassment cases? Has the Legislature exempted itself from the laws it applies to other employer? We talk to Wendy Musell (Stuart & Musell) of the California Employment Lawyers Association and plaintiff's attorneys Micha Star Liberty (Liberty Law Office) and Genie Harrison (Genie Harrison Law Firm).