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CA Supreme Court bars judges from Boy Scouts

In an unexpected exercise of judicial activism, the California Supreme Court has ruled judges must not participate in organizations that practice so-called “invidious” discrimination. It’s a judicial standard interpreted by the court to include the Boy Scouts of America because, although

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Pointless death-penalty ruling

As I noted in my blog last week, “Rose Bird’s ghost will kill death penalty,” there aren’t going to be any more executions in California. Future Gov. Jerry Brown appointments to the California Supreme Court will prevent that. So this

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CA lawmakers deal pair of online poker bills

State lawmakers have dealt out a pair of bills to legalize Internet poker in California. Assemblymen Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, and Reggies Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, have introduced separate proposals to allow online poker in the largest potential gaming market in the country. As many

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CA road use tax could morph into social engineering experiment

The prospect that Californians will face a new state levy is certain to cause grousing and considerable comment. But a proposal that is increasingly making waves has far-reaching implications and possibilities that have yet to be acknowledged. This is from

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Gun groups urge Supreme Court to take up SF gun case

More than a dozen Second Amendment groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a high-profile challenge to a San Francisco gun-control measure. Led by the Firearms Policy Coalition, gun groups say the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

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Contra Costa County government scandal: Third World R Us?

It’s long been common in politics for one side to comment on how alleged wrongdoing is covered by the media if their side does it versus how it’s covered if it’s the other side doing it. But this tactic and/or

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Challenge to CA union dues heads to Supreme Court

Are union dues mandatory? The U.S. Supreme Court is closeer to taking up that controversy. According to the Center for Individual Rights, which defends individual workers’ rights not to belong to unions and pay dues, specifically to the California Teachers

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LAO report: Dozens of school districts not honoring intent of state law

The state Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report last week on how 50 California school districts were dealing with the requirements of the 2013 Local Control Funding Formula law. That’s Gov. Jerry Brown’s ballyhooed reform measure that is meant to

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