John Yoo cited by The Spectrum, May 12, 2017
“A basic tenet of constitutional law is that no president can bind future presidents in the use of their constitutional authorities,” Yoo said.
Los Angeles may target border wall profiteering with contractor disclosure requirement
John Yoo quoted by Capital & Main, May 11, 2017
John Yoo … told Fox Business that the resolution “may violate the Dormant Commerce Clause, which prevents cities from discriminating against outside companies, and there’s no legal exception for political disagreements.”
Juvenile-justice fees forcing some CA families into bankruptcy
Stephanie Campos-Bui quoted by Public News Service, May 11, 2017
“Many families can’t afford to pay even $50 a month, let alone $500 a month,” she says. “When these fees are assessed, they become a civil judgment against a family that is enforceable through wage garnishment and tax-rebate intercepts.”
Hessène Habré’s rape acquittal must not be quietly airbrushed from history
Kim Thuy Seelinger writes for The Guardian, May 10, 2017
Habré’s rape acquittal should not be allowed to pass unnoticed. It not only sheds light on Senegalese criminal procedure, it also reveals some persistent and paradoxical truths about sexual crimes: not least that it is often difficult for survivors to come forward in a clear and timely way, and that these cases require sensitive investigation from the start.
‘We won’t really know how to interpret the Comey firing until we know whom Trump nominates to replace him’
Dan Farber quoted by The Washington Post, May 10, 2017
If Trump nominates an independent, respected figure to replace Comey, well and good. If he nominates someone who is compromised by associations with Trump or who lacks credibility as an objective investigator. … That would be the point to start worrying in earnest about a constitutional crisis.
California’s juvenile detention fees hurt families
Stephanie Campos-Bui interviewed by KPBS, May 10, 2017
“State law says the fees are meant to protect the fiscal integrity of counties. But in doing that we’ve seen that come at the expense of economic and social harm to many families and particularly communities of color,” said Stephanie Campos-Bui, a clinical supervising attorney at UC Berkeley School of Law Policy Advocacy Clinic and co-author of the report, “Making Families Pay.”
‘These fish are in a bad way.’ How many more will die because of the Delta tunnels?
Holly Doremus quoted by The Sacramento Bee, May 7, 2017
“It’s obvious there will be adverse effects from this project,” said Holly Doremus, a professor of environmental law at UC Berkeley and an expert on the Endangered Species Act. “These fish are in a bad way. There’s a desire to have higher reliability for high volumes of water delivery. That isn’t compatible with certainty that the fish will be in better shape.”
Jail fees pile up for Sonoma County juvenile offenders
Stephanie Campos-Bui quoted by The Press Democrat, May 6, 2017
“Families aren’t paying on this debt because they can’t afford to,” Stephanie Campos-Bui, one of the UC Berkeley report’s authors, said in an interview. “There’s very low gain to the county, and when you compare that to the impact on families, it’s a bad calculus.”
Trump can’t stop protests at his rallies, experts say
Jesse Choper and Daniel Farber quoted by San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 2017
“If he wants to have a private talk, he ought to have it in his office,” Choper said. He said protesters can’t be allowed to “censor the speaker” by drowning Trump out with shouts, but they should at least be allowed to hold up signs — or Russian flags — as long as they can’t be converted to weapons.
Daniel Farber said he was leery about the willingness by Trump’s lawyers to condone the use of force against protesters. “The state has an interest in preventing violent acts and requiring people to use legal channels,” Farber said. “An abortion protest might violate the rights of a clinic, but that doesn’t mean the clinic people have the right to beat them up.”
A Dutch website is helping Americans who want to safely end early pregnancies
Jill Adams quoted by Think Progress, May 5, 2017
“While people in the U.S. have been self-inducing abortion with pills safely, effectively and privately, they do so under the looming threat of arrest and prosecution, or detention and deportation,” said Jill Adams. … “Not because self-induced abortion is per se illegal, but because rogue prosecutors have been manipulating and misapplying laws in a modern day witch-hunt.”