Santa Barbara Lawyer - Santa Barbara County Bar Association

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Santa Barbara
Official Publication of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association
February 2009 • Issue 437
Lawyer
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February 2009
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Santa Barbara County Bar Association
www.sblaw.org
2009 Officers and Directors
Melissa Fassett
President
Price, Postel & Parma LLP
200 E. Carrillo Street, Suite 400
T: 962-0011 F: 965-3978
Rusty Brace
Events Committee
Hollister & Brace
1113 Santa Barbara Street
Santa Barbara, CA, 93102
T: 963-6711 F: 965-0329
Donna Lewis
Special Projects
Attorney at Law
1727 Bath Street #B
T: 682-6710 F: 682-6710
Lynn E. Goebel
President-elect
Karczag & Associates
15 West Carrillo Street, Suite 213
T: 564-8055 F: 564-6548
Lora Brown
Liaison, Legal/Community
Associations
Hardin & Coffin, LLP
1531 Chapala Street, Suite 1
T: 963-3301 F: 963-7372
Cristi Michelon
Events Committee
Eaton, Jones & Michelon
T: 963-2014 F: 966-2120
Mack Staton
Secretary
Bench and Bar Conference (2010)
Mullen & Henzell LLP
112 E. Victoria Street
Santa Barbara, CA, 93101
T: 966-1501 F: 966-9204
Catherine Swysen
Chief Financial Officer
Sanger & Swysen
233 E. Carrillo Street, Suite C
T: 962-4887 F: 963-7311
William Clinkenbeard
Past President
Clinkenbeard, Ramsey & Spackman, LLP
Post Office Box 21007
T: 965-0043 F: 965-8894
John J. Thyne III
Law Day/Law Week
The Law Offices of John Thyne
2000 State Street
T: 963-9958 F: 963-3814
Luis Esparza
Events Committee
Esparza Law Group, PC
1129 State Street, Suite 13
T: 564-1018 F: 564-1437
Saji Dias Gunawardane
Editor-in-Chief
Law In Motion, PC
924 Anacapa Street, Suite 2-J
T: 845-4000 F: 845-4867
Jennifer Kruse Hanrahan
MCLE Chair
Attorney at Law
285 Chateaux Elise, Suite B
T: 636-5566 F: 966-6407
Paul Roberts
T: 963-7403 F: 966-7869
William Duval, Jr.
Law Day/Law Week
1114 State Street, Suite 240
T: 963-9641 F: 963-4071
Elizabeth Nolan
Executive Director
SBCBA Office
123 W. Padre Street, No. E
T: 569-5511 F: 569-2888
sblawmag@verizon.net
Mission Statement
The mission of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association
is to preserve the integrity of the legal profession and
respect for the law, to advance the professional growth
and education of its members, to encourage civility and
collegiality among its members, to promote equal access to
justice and protect the independence of the legal profession
and the judiciary.
4
A Publication of the Santa Barbara
County Bar Association
©2009 Santa Barbara County Bar Association
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Saji Dias Gunawardane
ASSISTANT EDITORS
John Derrick
Winnie Cai
SENIOR EDITOR
Lol Sorensen
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kirk Ah Tye
R.A. Carrington
Herb Fox
Bruce Glesby
David Hughes
Brett Locker
Janet McGinnis
Angelica Rodriguez
Robert Sanger
Lol Sorensen
Catherine Swysen
ART DIRECTOR/COVER ART
Alessandro L Casati
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Michael Lyons
DESIGN and PRODUCTION
Baushke Graphic Arts
Wilson Printing
Submit all EDITORIAL matter to
Saji Dias Gunawardane at
Saji@LawInMotionSB.com with
“submissIon” in the email
subject line.
Submit all advertising to:
SBCBA, 123 W. Padre Street, #E
phone 569-5511, fax 569-2888
Classifieds can be emailed to:
sblawmag@verizon.net
Santa Barbara
Official Publication of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association
February 2009 • Issue 437
Lawyer
Articles
Departments
6 From the Editor
42 Motions
8 CRLA, Civil Rights and 21st Century Santa
45 Classifieds
Barbara
9 Protecting Civil Liberties: A Survey of Recent
46 Calendar
Efforts by the Anti-Defamation League to
Confront Hate and to Educate our Communities
11 The Central African Refugees in Southern Chad:
An Untold Humanitarian Crisis
13 ACLU Lawsuit to Potentially Influence Local
Treatment of Homeless Community
15
20
21
22
25
30
32
36
Post-Ballot Prop 8 Legal Arguments
Lincoln and Civil Liberty: A Brief Perspective
Black Studies and Fair Housing at UCSB
Risky Reliance on Clerk’s Erroneous Advice
New Criminal Laws for 2009
New Lawyer of the Month: Meet Rachel Boss
A Community’s Commitment to Excel
In Memoriam: A Tribute to Jay L. Michaelson
1941-2009
39 In Memoriam: Remembering a California Civil
Rights Hero
40 In Memoriam: The Passing of a Great Civil
Rights Lawyer is Mourned
February 2009
5
From the Editor
A Measure of Time
By Saji D. Gunawardane
O
ur February issue is dedicated to the late Jay Michaelson who passed away on January 13, 2009
after a bout with cancer. Jay co-founded Michaelson, Susi, & Michaelson 30 years ago, the first firm in Santa
Barbara County devoted exclusively to bankruptcy law.
While I never had the honor of knowing Jay, I learned a
great deal about this lawyer, husband, father, and friend
from Bruce Glesby, Joe Howell, and other colleagues in
our legal community. All had the same thing to say about
what they admired — and would miss — the most: Jay’s
selflessness and commitment to giving to others. (See In
Memoriam, p. 36.)
Santa Barbara Lawyer salutes our colleague for his service
and inspiration.
As students of the law, we recognize that the law is
dynamic. We find inspiration in a number of places. And
we recognize that our dedication to the work we do and
the objectives we pursue is influenced by our own heritage
and experiences.
In recognition of both Presidents’ Day and Black History Month, this issue contains several articles that discuss
the rule of law and the rights of people. They cover a
wide spectrum of subjects — from surveys of cases being
pursued by civil advocates on behalf of underrepresented
communities (regionally and globally), to partnerships with
law enforcement agencies in efforts to fight crime, to new
initiatives by local institutions aimed at educating adults
and empowering students to excel.
These articles weave together a common theme: As
Santa Barbara lawyers, we appreciate the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of our colleagues and our greater
community. In these uncertain times, this appreciation
can provide us with more than comfort. It advances an
engaging discourse. It promotes an exchange of ideas and
new approaches to overcoming problems. The dedication
exhibited by local colleagues and friends can even inspire
us in our own professional and personal lives.
Several of the authors in this issue invite your comments
and participation in their programs. We hope you will
consider doing so.
The Editorial Board is particularly pleased that many of
the writers in our second issue of ’09 are first-time contributors. And among them, a couple of firsts: An article
by a judicial assistant at our local courts, and a piece by
this publication’s first law student intern. We thank all of
the writers, and extend our call-out to you to put pen to
paper. The deadline for submissions for our March issue
is February 9.
It is time to renew your membership in the
Please find your application on page 44 of this issue of Santa Barbara Lawyer
6
February 2009
7
Civil Rights
CRLA, Civil Rights
and 21st Century
Santa Barbara
By Kirk Ah Tye
A
s the Directing Attorney of the California Rural
Legal Assistance (CRLA) Santa Barbara office, I
have been asked to survey my law firm’s local civil
rights engagements in litigation and impact work, and
to envision the trajectory of local civil rights in the new
millennium. In servicing exclusively clients who meet the
federal poverty guidelines, our practice is innately oriented
to the civil rights of indigent persons as a class. Poverty
itself implicates civil rights, and civil rights are a significant
element to each of CRLA’s priority legal areas of education,
health, housing, employment, government benefits, and
constitutional and individual rights.
In Santa Barbara County, CRLA has represented a number of clients and groups in these diverse select civil rights
cases:
• CRLA procured a federal court consent decree against
the City of Buellton, with co-counsel Santa Maria CRLA,
including $360,000 in reparations for displaced Latino families under federal and state fair housing laws, a revision of
Buellton’s housing element requiring a percentage of new
housing to be affordable for low-income families, designation of low-income sites, inclusionary affordable housing,
and future relocation assistance. It has also worked on other
housing cases involving disability rights and accommodations under fair housing laws.
• CRLA assisted in securing in the Court of Appeal the
constitutional right of homeless residents without a traditional street address to register to vote in all local, state
and federal elections. It also obtained judicial certification
of nomination of a destitute candidate for city council, effecting that person’s inclusion on electoral ballot.
• CRLA effectuated a judicial decree under the Americans
with Disabilities Act on behalf of students with spina bifida
who could not navigate their public school campuses in
wheelchairs, preventing them from taking advantage of
substantial educational offerings. This mandated $8.2 million bond-money for reformation of all elementary, junior
high and high school campuses. Our clients also received
$315,000 in civil rights damages.
8
• CRLA enforced in Superior Court the equal access rights
of disabled persons to be accompanied by trained service
dogs in restaurants and public places.
• CRLA negotiated with the MTD, under threat of suit,
the right of blind passengers to be accompanied by guide
dogs, and to have MTD bus drivers call out major intersections and streets for the benefit of blind patrons.
• In a series of impact-litigation cases in the health and
government benefits arenas, CRLA won In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) for blind and disabled residents of
homeless shelters, nullifying illegal underground state regulations and obtaining proscribed paramedical services via
IHSS; it obtained private electric treadmill, and speech and
occupational therapies beyond basic activities (as historical
Medi-Cal firsts); it won admission of a disabled savant into
State Regional Center for treatment as developmentally
disabled; it gained gastric bypass surgery for the morbidly
obese, statewide, notwithstanding adverse official Medi-Cal
prohibitions; and it petitioned to a court to permit electricshock therapy for an incapacitated indigent patient.
• CRLA has represented many learning-disabled students
under the federal Individuals with Disablities Education Act
(IDEA) at Individualized Education Program conferences
to establish the all-important curriculum and attendant
services for the remainder of their public-school careers, as
well at disciplinary suspension and expulsion hearings.
• CRLA has increased its involvement with land-use
and housing law, with the objective of gaining more affordable housing stock in Santa Barbara County and its
major cities on behalf of low-income residents and families and furthering the special needs populations of farm
workers, single-parent households and disabled persons.
CRLA is currently challenging as unfeasible the County’s
intention to assign many hundreds of low-income units to
Isla Vista as an expedient means of satisfying its regional
housing needs numbers. In the recent past, CRLA submitted an amicus brief to the state Supreme Court challenging
Goleta’s land-use decisions thwarting affordable housing. It
has also defended in court mobile-home rent stabilization
ordinances for low-income mobile-home owners.
• On the education front, CRLA established a favorable
precedent in the California Supreme Court on behalf of
impoverished students — as well as students of all economic
levels — in a decision striking down “extracurricular” and
other fees in public schools as violative of the free education clause of the state constitution.
The Future?
As to discerning the future, CRLA anticipates increased
Continued on page 29
Civil Liberties
Protecting Civil
Liberties
A Survey of Recent Efforts by
the Anti-Defamation League to
Confront Hate and to Educate Our
Communities
By Brett Locker
T
he Anti-Defamation League (“ADL”) was founded
in 1913 with a two-pronged mission of halting
the defamation of the Jewish people and securing
justice and fair treatment for all people. While the general
public now most commonly associates ADL with its tireless fight against anti-Semitism, ADL continues to devote
significant resources to the effective resistance of all forms
of bigotry and the advocacy of pan-community equality
and civil rights.
Confronting Hate and Prejudice
To the end of confronting and immobilizing the extant
forces of hatred and prejudice, ADL works in partnership
with law enforcement on local, regional and national levels. In Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, these collaborative efforts flow through ADL’s Santa
Barbara /Tri-Counties regional office. In recent years, the
regional office has conducted and coordinated training sessions for the Santa Barbara Police Department, the Ventura
County Probation Agency, the Terrorism Early Warning
Group (a joint effort of multiple law enforcement agencies
throughout Ventura County) and, in conjunction with the
Office of the District Attorney for the County of Ventura,
the Ventura County Sheriff’s Academy. Such training sessions have included Eco-terrorism: California, Domestic
Terrorism in our Backyard; Identifying Extremist Tattoos
and Symbols; California Extremist Subculture; and Hate
Crimes.
ADL’s efforts to educate law enforcement about the nature of hate crimes exemplify how ADL shares its expertise
to promote a more just society that honors the American
democratic ideals of anti-bias, equality and justice. According to ADL’s Western States Counsel, Michelle Deutchman, “Hate crimes are message crimes that impact both
the individual person that has been particularly targeted
by the criminal actor and the entire community of people
that share the targeted victim’s characteristics.” The perpetrator of such acts sends a message to — and thereby
injures — the whole sub-community of people that share
February 2009
the targeted victim’s characteristics by telling them that
they are not safe and that they are not welcome within
the community at large.
According to Ms. Deutchman, “Critical components of
ADL’s law enforcement trainings focus on teaching law enforcement official — peace officers, in particular — how to
identify hate crimes and how quickly and clearly to respond
to such hate crimes by denouncing the crime and sending
the unambiguous countervailing message that community
members are safe and that they are welcome.”
ADL’s law enforcement training sessions also provide
prosecutorial assistance by teaching police officers, sheriff’s
deputies and other peace officers fundamental aspects of
California law. For example, ADL’s training sessions teach
the differences between California’s comprehensive hate
crimes laws and the federal hate crimes laws which, unlike California’s laws, do not apply to crimes motivated
by gender, sexual orientation and/or disability. In addition
and, perhaps, of more significance, ADL’s training sessions provide to peace officers detailed explanations of
the specific elements that the district attorneys will need
to prove in order to successfully prosecute these crimes
and thereby impose the appropriate consequent penalty
enhancements.
Preventing Bigotry
ADL also expends significant effort toward the end of
preventing bigotry and promoting equality and civil rights
through its collaboration with educators and other nonprofit
organizations. According to Cynthia Silverman, the Regional Director of ADL’s Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties regional
office, “At ADL, we follow and teach the philosophy that
that no child is born hating. Hatred is learned and, accordingly, we believe and teach that hatred can be unlearned. In
an ideal world, so much of the civil rights work that we do
would not be necessary if bigotry, bias and discrimination
could be prevented or stopped from growing and turning
violent.” ADL’s No Place for Hate® and Community of
Respect™ campaigns epitomize ADL’s efforts to prevent
the growth of hatred and, where unfortunately necessary,
initiate the process of “unlearning” hatred.
The Santa Barbara/Tri Counties regional office collaborated on two noteworthy events in 2008. In February
2008, an Oxnard, California middle school student allegedly shot and killed 15 year-old Lawrence King because of
Lawrence’s sexual orientation. Shortly after the grisly crime,
ADL, Pacific Pride Foundation and Just Communities held
a community-wide candlelight vigil at the Santa Barbara
9
10
Civil Liberties
The Central
African Refugees in
Southern Chad:
An Untold Humanitarian Crisis
By Catherine J. Swysen
I
n March 2008, during one of my trips to southern
Chad with the Chad Relief Foundation (CRF), I
encountered a young girl in the refugee camp of
Dosseye. She was twelve years old and paralyzed. She was
from the Central Republic of Africa, known as CAR. Her
village was attacked by armed forces. We were unable to
tell whether the attackers were rebels, bandits or government troops. She was with her mother when they were
shot down. The bullet went through her mother and lodged
in the girl’s leg. The young girl was trapped under her dead
mother’s body for three days before being rescued. She has
not spoken since.
This young girl was one of the recipients of the wheelchairs we distributed during our visit. We were able to help
her only because she had been given refugee status under
the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as
amended by the 1967 Protocol. Chad, one of the five poorest
countries in the world, is one of the 147 signatory nations
to the Convention. Under the Convention, this child, along
with thousands of other refugees, was allowed to enter
Chad and reside in a camp set up by United Nations High
Commission on Refugees (UNHCR).
The Convention was adopted a few months after
UNHCR began its work on January 1, 1951. UNHCR’s
mandate is to lead and coordinate international action to
protect refugees and solve refugee problems worldwide.
Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of the refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can
exercise their right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in
another State, with the option to return home voluntarily,
integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. The 1951
Convention and its 1967 Protocol have been instrumental
to UNHCR’s efforts.
The Convention is based upon the fundamental principle
of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights that all human beings shall
enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination. At first, the Convention granted protection only to
European refugees in the aftermath of World War II. In
February 2009
1967, its scope was expanded to include refugees throughout the world. Refugees under the Convention are persons
outside of their country of nationality or habitual residence
who, because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to
their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion, are unable or unwilling
to avail themselves to the protection of that country, or
to return there, for fear of persecution. The Convention
sets forth the kind of legal protection, other assistance and
social rights the refugees must receive from the states that
have signed it. It also defines the refugees’ obligations to
host governments.
It is this Convention that mandated that Chad, as poor
as it is, act as a host country not only for the refugees from
Darfur in eastern Chad but for the less known CAR refugees
in southern Chad where the Santa Barbara based CRF has
been working since September 2007. CAR is a failed state
facing an armed rebellion in the northern part of the country
where a largely unpublicized humanitarian crisis has been
unfolding since 2003. Northern CAR is characterized by a
complete state of lawlessness, the absence of any institutional services such as schools and health centers and little
non-government organization (NGO) presence due to the
insecurity. The local populations have been subjected to
killings, destruction of property, rape, burning of villages
and kidnapping for ransom at the hands of government
troops, rebels and “coupeurs de route” or road bandits who
operate with complete impunity. Faced with this violence,
they fled into the bush without the basic necessities of life
and relocated in vast number to the most remote part of
southern Chad.
The ability of UNHCR to maintain contact with these
refugees is remarkable in light of the remoteness of the
areas where the refugees are located and the permanent
state of unrest in Chad. When we travel to southern Chad
for our Foundation, we arrive in the capital of N’djamena.
More than once and as recently as Februay 2008, it has
been under attack by rebels. From there, we travel by Land
Rover for over ten hours on a road and then on a dirt track
to get to Goré where UNHCR has set three camps for the
CAR refugees, Amboko, Gondjé and Dosseye and where
it has a small compound.
We traveled another 12 hours by small plane, by Land
Rover on dirt tracks into the brush and pirogue to reach
14,000 refugees camping out by the border waiting for
UNHCR to process them. It is difficult to convey with
words the helpnessess and desperation I saw. The refugees,
mostly women and children, fled horrific violence with
nothing but their clothes on their back. They had been living in the open under makeshift shelters made of branches
11
Civil Liberties
and leaves for two months. The heat was intense, 115o by
10:00 a.m. The only source of water was a pond of standing water in the dry river bed. Due to the harsh conditions
they endured in the bush before crossing to Chad, the
lack of water and food, the refugees were in poor physical
health. Through sheer dedication, a four-member UNHCR
emergency mission evacuated the refugees to a transit camp
set up in Dembo 32 miles away. A UNHCR Protection Officer and a representative of CNAR, the Chadian refugee
authority, registered each refugee. Once registered, each
refugee received a blue UN bracelet and was transferred
by truck to the Dembo transit camp. UNHCR set up camp
on an open dirt field. Since there was no source of water,
they brought in huge bladders that they filled with water
from the river many miles away by trucks. Upon arrival,
the refugees went to a health screening/feeding station
where they received a hot meal. Once done they moved
to the distribution center where each family received food
rations from the World Food Program. Finally, they settled
in huge “hangars,” structures framed with wood sticks
and covered with plastic sheeting holding several hundred
people. Not everybody survived. The day I was there I saw
a family bring back the body of their toddler who had died
most likely of a combination of malnutrition and diarrhea
or malaria.
The refugees were later moved to a permanent camp
farther south in Moula. Once in the camps, the refugees
continue to receive assistance from the UNHCR. Their
main mandate is the protection of the refugees, but it also
coordinates all the activities of the NGOs it contracts with
to provide basic services: education, community services,
medical services and food distribution. Attention is also
paid to the local population which is extremely poor as
well to avoid tension between autochtones and refugees.
Life expectancy in Chad is only 47 years old and one out
of five children will not reach the age of five. Infrastructure
is inadequate and in most of Chad, there is a lack of access to basic resources such as clean water, health services,
education and energy.
CRF has followed the same approach. To date, CRF has
provided funding for projects that UNHCR could not fund.
CRF provided 50 wheelchairs/tricylces manufactured in
Chad for handicapped refugees and autochtones. It also
built a shelter, latrine and well in the town of Bitoye at the
border of CAR, Cameroon and Chad. These facilities are
used not only by the refugees who cross the border there
while waiting for UNHCR to pick them up but also by the
local population. This month, CRF contributed funds to
build a secondary school mid-way between the Amboko
Camp and the Gondjé Camp which will serve both the
refugees and the local population.
As desperate as the circumstances are, they would be far
worse if it were not for the implementation of basic tenets
of civil and human rights under international law. Our
Foundation was founded by Bill Felstiner, former Associate
Dean of Yale Law School and Director of the American Bar
Association, Stan Roden now retired from private practice,
and Richard Applebaum, Professor of Sociology and Global
& International Studies at the Univeristy of California at
Santa Barbara. There is no doubt that our lawyerly belief
in the concept of human rights and the concept of enforcing those rights under international law helps us to do
our job. We understand and support the United Nations’
determination to enforce the Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees. It is that Convention that allows the
United Nations and the NGOs, including the Chad Relief
Foundation of Santa Barbara, to help these desperate human beings.
Catherine Swysen is the Managing Partner of the Santa Barbara
law firm of Sanger & Swysen. She handles civil and criminal
litigation in the State and Federal Courts including civil rights
cases. She is Vice-President of the Chad Relief Foundation. For
more information on the Chad Relief Foundation and its activites
go to www.chadrelief.org.
12
Civil Rights
Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for ACLU of Southern
California, the city lacks adequate shelter for and assistance
to its homeless population. “There are even more art galleries than homeless residents,” said Rosenbaum, “yet city
leaders have chosen to attempt to eliminate the homeless,
rather than eliminate homelessness,” Rosenbaum further
stated. It has also been made clear by the ACLU that the
lawsuit is not about money because it seeks an injunction
against the alleged unfair and inhumane treatment inflicted
By Angelica Rodriguez
upon the homeless community.
Homelessness is not only affecting major cities like Los
Angeles or San Francisco, but it is a steadily growing issue
n Christmas Eve of 2008, the American Civil
in cities as lovely, picturesque and “tourist-attracting” as
Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal lawsuit
our very own Santa Barbara. Our city, in contrast to Laguna
against the City of Laguna Beach on behalf of
Beach, has had a Tactical Patrol Force in place for some
the city’s disabled homeless population. The case was filed
time now. This team of officers literally patrols homeless
in the United States District Court for the Central District
areas on bicycles. These officers also assist the homeless
of California in the Southern Division of Santa Ana. The
by making regular contact with them while at the same
complaint alleges that city officials, mainly members of the
time maintaining a continued presence
police department, are responsible for
in their community. Sean McCrossen,
the intimidating and harassing treatment
Homelessness
is
not
only
local ACLU member said, “This ‘comreceived by the homeless community.
According to the complaint, the five
affecting major cities like Los munity’ approach helps to establish a
rapport with the homeless population
plaintiffs, who are all homeless, have
while also giving them valuable inforbeen harassed while sleeping in public Angeles or San Francisco,
mation about local shelters and services
areas.
but
it
is
a
steadily
growing
provided by both non-profits and govIn recent interviews conducted by
ernment.” Mr. McCrossen also stated
the ACLU, several homeless individu- issue in cities as lovely,
that the Los Angeles Police Department
als stated that police rudely woke them
picturesque
and
“touristand the ACLU recently reached an outup and then ticketed them for violating
of-court agreement that prohibits officers
a city ordinance enacted in the 1950s,
attracting” as our very own
from randomly searching and harassing
which bans street sleeping and the use
the homeless or otherwise violating the
of tents or camps in connection with Santa Barbara.
homeless population’s civil rights.
street sleeping. These individuals also
It is definitely going to take more than
alleged that police officers regularly
local, state and federal assistance to aid this growing populastopped them to question or illegally search them. These
tion. We can only hope that our own present local efforts
allegations prompted the ACLU to file this lawsuit in what
will lead our city to remain proactive in finding solutions.
they consider inhumane and unconstitutional treatment of
Perhaps with the outcome of ACLU’s lawsuit against the
Laguna Beach’s homeless.
City of Laguna Beach, we can gain a new perspective and
In the city’s defense, officials claim that they have been
create new approaches that Santa Barbara may implement
trying to resolve homeless issues by forming a task force
in its homeless community.
and appointing a community outreach officer, including the
approval of an interest-free loan to a non-profit agency to
Angelica Rodriguez is currently a Judicial Assistant at the Santa
build a shelter not only for the homeless but also for disaster
Barbara County Superior Court. Most recently, she worked as an
victims. City officials further claim that they have one of
Eligibility Specialist for federal housing programs serving homeless
the best and most aggressive programs in the entire state to
and terminally ill patients and as a social worker/case manager for
address homeless issues, including a day program providthe elderly and disabled. She has worked with California Rural
ing showers, meals and even laundry service. Furthermore,
Legal Assistance in Santa Barbara and as a Judicial Secretary
city officials claimed to have studied other cities in similar
in the San Luis Obispo Court. She holds a degree in Legal Assituations with homeless populations.
sisting.
However, according to the complaint of this case and
ACLU Lawsuit May
Affect Local
Treatment of
Homeless Community
O
February 2009
13
14
State Supreme Court Update
Post-Ballot Prop. 8
Legal Arguments
By David K. Hughes
A
s I wrote in the January issue of this publication,
the California Supreme Court issued an order on
November 19, 2008 granting a hearing about challenges to the passage of Proposition 8, the initiative amending the California Constitution to limit marriage in California to that between a man and a woman.
On December 19, 2008, proponents of Prop 8 filed an
Intervener’s brief in opposition to the Petition challenging
the passage of the proposition. That brief was authored
by the well-known Constitutional law attorney, Kenneth
Starr, dean of the Pepperdine Law School.
On that same date, and in what can only be described as
a dramatic and surprising turn of events, Attorney General
Jerry Brown filed a brief asking the Court to invalidate Prop
8. Brown’s move was unexpected since he had publicly
stated on November 5 that he would defend the measure
and because the presumed statutory role of the Attorney
General is to argue in favor of legislation approved by the
voters when it is subject to a legal challenge.
Jerry Brown’s brief represents the first time since 1964
that a California Attorney General has refused to defend a
ballot measure enacted by the People. In that year, Attorney
General Thomas Lynch concluded that Proposition 14, a
constitutional amendment overturning a fair housing law
to allow racial discrimination in housing sales and rentals,
was violative of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Lynch’s position was eventually upheld by both the
California and United States Supreme Courts.
Because of the surprise filing by Brown, the Supreme
Court afforded the proponents of Prop 8 the luxury of
filing an additional response brief by January 5, 2009, the
same date that the brief of the Petitioners was due to the
Court.
I will now briefly describe the arguments of the opposing
sides on the three questions framed by the Court, as well as
on the new argument made by Attorney General Brown.
February 2009
“Is Prop. 8 invalid
because it is a
revision to the
Constitution, rather
than an amendment?”
It is well settled in California that the initiative
power of the People set
forth in the California Constitution applies only to
the proposing and adopting of amendments to the
Constitution and not to
“revisions” to that docuDavid K. Hughes
ment. A revision may be
accomplished only through
ratification by the People of a revised Constitution proposed
at a convention called for that purpose, or by a legislative
submission of a measure to the voters. (Raven v. Deukmejian
(1990) 52 Cal.3d 336, 349.)
Alas, the Constitution does not define what constitutes a
“revision” as compared to an “amendment.” In the absence
of such explicit guidance, the California Supreme Court has
seen fit to develop an analysis which focuses on both the
quantitative and qualitative effects of an initiative on the
state’s constitutional scheme.
Simply put, a quantitative change to the Constitution
amounting to a revision would be an enactment which is
so extensive in its provisions as to change the substantial
entirety of the Constitution by the deletion or alteration
of numerous existing provisions. (See Amador Valley Joint
Union High School District v. State (1978) 22 Cal.3d 208, 223.)
In contrast, a qualitative change amounting to a revision
would be one that affected a change in the fundamental
structure or foundational powers of one of the branches of
the government. (See Legislature v. Eu (1991) 54 Cal.3d 492,
509.) Examples from actual cases will best explain these
rules of constitutional jurisprudence.
In the case of Amador Valley Joint Union High School District
v. State, supra, the California Supreme Court heard a challenge to the passage of Proposition 13, the initiative measure
sponsored by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann that changed
the method of property taxation in the state. The Court had
no difficulty in finding that the proposition did not affect a
quantitative change to the Constitution. The proposition
was only 400 words in length, covered but a single subject,
taxation, and was limited in its purpose. The Court also
15
had no difficulty in rejecting the claims that the proposition
worked a qualitative change to the Constitution because
it resulted in both a loss of home rule and the republican
form of government. As the Court stated at page 225 of its
opinion, “… to conclude that the mere imposition of tax
limitations, per se, accomplishes a constitutional revision
would in effect bar the people from ever achieving any local
tax relief through the initiative process.”
The Court reached a different result in the case of Raven
v. Deukmejian (1990) 52 Cal.3d 336. At issue in that case
was a single provision of Proposition 115, the “Crime
Victims Justice Reform Act.” The provision in question
was an amendment to Article I, Section 24 of the Constitution which had provided that “Rights guaranteed by
this Constitution are not dependent on those guaranteed
by the US Constitution.” The initiative language changed
that language to provide that “the California Constitution
shall not be construed to afford greater rights to criminal
defendants than those afforded by the US Constitution.”
The Court struck down this one provision as a qualitative
revision to the Constitution. The Court concluded that the
provision would affect or eliminate 32 individual rights
accorded to criminal defendants and, most significantly,
would alter the structure of California government by vesting all judicial interpretative power concerning the rights of
criminal defendants in this state in the U.S. Supreme Court
interpreting the U.S. Constitution.
Relying on the above two cases and other similar precedent, the Interveners have argued that Prop. 8 could not
be a quantitative revision to the Constitution because the
initiative is only 14 words in length, did not address multiple subjects, and did not delete or alter the text of other
constitutional provisions. Neither, they argued, could Prop.
8 be a qualitative revision to the Constitution under the
Court’s precedents. Prop. 8 did not involve a change in the
basic plan of California government, and it did not clearly
affect the structure or foundational powers of any branch of
government or alter the relationships between the branches
or their respective powers.
In his December brief, Attorney General Brown conceded
that Prop. 8 did not amount to a quantitative revision to
the Constitution, and he did not strongly argue that Prop.
8 constituted a qualitative revision to the Constitution. In
contrast, and distinguishing their position from that of the
Attorney General, the Petitioners made a number of arguments why Prop. 8 constituted an impermissible revision
to the Constitution.
First, it was a revision because it substantially alters the
fundamental constitutional principle of equality, which is an
essential structural principle of the Constitution. Petitioners
argued that the selective withdrawal of a fundamental right
from a historically disfavored minority may be accomplished, if at all, only by the more deliberative process of a
Constitutional convention or the submission of a legislative
measure to the People for their approval. Second, Prop. 8
is a revision because it strikes at the constitutional role of
the judiciary. It strips the courts of their traditional role to
enforce equality as to one segment of society.
“Does Prop. 8 violate the “separation of
powers doctrine” embodied in the California
Constitution?”
This is the second of three issues posed to the parties by
the Supreme Court in its grant of hearing.
In its simplest iteration, the separation of powers doctrine
means that one branch of government cannot exercise or
interfere with the function of any other branch. The classic example of an initiative violating that doctrine is the
adoption in 1990 of Proposition 115, as described in Raven
v. Deukmejian, supra. There, the legislative enactment by
the People resulted in a statutory scheme that deprived
the California judiciary of the power to interpret the California Constitution with respect to the rights of criminal
defendants.
On this issue, the Interveners argued that Prop. 8 in
no way changes the constitutional powers of any of the
branches of government and does not deprive the judiciary
of its role as the final arbiter of what the California Constitution says. In his brief, Attorney General Brown agreed
and conceded that “the separation of powers doctrine does
not appear to present an independent basis to declare Prop.
8 an impermissible revision of the Constitution.”
However, the Petitioners did not agree with the position
taken by the Attorney General. They argued that the doctrine was violated because Pro.p 8 prevented the judiciary
from fulfilling its core constitutional function of enforcing
equal protection.
“If Prop. 8 is not unconstitutional, what is
the effect, if any, on the marriages of same sex
couples performed before the adoption of Prop.
8?”
Although the two parties put forward contrasting arguments on this third issue, they both, quite interestingly,
relied primarily on the plain language of the proposition as
well as language in the ballot pamphlet materials in support
16
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Hughes, continued from page 16
of their divergent positions.
The text of Prop. 8 reads: “Only marriage between a man
and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
The Interveners argued that the plain language of the
proposition mandated that prior same sex marriages could
not be “recognized” in California. The opposing side argued
that the language of the initiative was silent on the validity
of prior same sex marriages, so there could be no indication
that the voters intended Prop. 8 to be retroactive.
The Petitioners and the Attorney General made two
additional arguments in support of their view that the approximately 18,000 same sex marriages performed before
November 4 were valid: (1) Legislation is presumed to
operate prospectively absent express language or a clear
implication that it is to apply retroactively; and (2) the retroactive application of Prop. 8 would impair both contracts
and vested property rights without due process.
The Attorney General’s Individual Rights
Argument
The primary argument of the Attorney General in his
December brief was his last. He argued that Prop. 8 should
be deemed unconstitutional, even it is found to be an acceptable amendment to the Constitution under Supreme
Court precedent, because it abrogates fundamental rights
protected by Article I of the Constitution without a compelling interest. Specifically, Brown argued that the liberty
interests contained in Article I, Section 1 of the California
Constitution enjoy a privileged status as rights that antedate
the Constitution because they are inherent in human nature.
The protection of those rights was one of the purposes
of the Constitution, in order to put a check on legislative efforts to abrogate those rights. Hence, according to
Brown, the voters of California do not have an unfettered
prerogative to amend the Constitution for the purpose of
depriving a disfavored minority group of inalienable rights
determined by the Supreme Court to be part of the fundamental personal liberties protected by Article I, Section
1. The Petitioners joined this argument of the Attorney
General when they filed their brief on January 5.
In response to Brown’s new argument, the Interveners
argue that the Attorney General’s theory is contrary to
established precedent, and that unwarranted fears about
majoritarian tyranny are no basis for deciding the case.
The Interveners argue that in a constitutional democracy,
ultimate sovereignty lies with the people and that there
is no inalienable right or natural law which is above the
Constitution. It is the people who have the exclusive and
February 2009
ultimate right to determine what rights are placed in the
Constitution, and the role of the judiciary in protecting the
rights of minorities does not by itself grant the judiciary
extra constitutional powers.
The Interveners argue that the precedent of the Supreme
Court has never suggested that an individual’s rights are
beyond the power of an initiative. As an example of that
proposition, they cited the Court’s decision upholding the
People’s reinstatement of the death penalty by an initiative despite the fact that the Court had earlier ruled that
the death penalty was unconstitutional as being cruel and
unusual punishment.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court will allow some amicus briefs to
be filed on January 15 and will likely set the case for oral
argument on a date in March. An opinion will probably be
released before the Court’s summer recess.
It is difficult to predict how the Court will rule. The Court
is likely to uphold the validity of Prop. 8 if it relies on the
language and principles enunciated in its prior decisions
determining whether initiative measures are revisions or
amendments to the Constitution. But, arguably, Prop. 8
presents a context not addressed by the Court in those prior
cases and none of those cases dealt with a question in any
way similar to the thorniest issue presented to the Court:
What to do with the marriages entered into before the adoption of Prop. 8, if the measure is upheld as constitutional?
We will all need Judge Bruce Dodds’ famous crystal ball to
predict the answers to these questions.
Reminder to
All Trial Attorneys
Santa Barbara Lawyer seeks to publish details of
verdicts rendered and settlements reached in Santa
Barbara County and also publishes verdicts and
settlements rendered in other counties involving
local lawyers. If you have participated in a trial or
settlement, please contact our Trial Court Editor,
R.A. Carrington, at (805) 565-1487 or RATC@cox.
net so that he can send you a brief questionnaire
regarding the facts and outcome of the case.
19
Civil Liberties
of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Although that
effort was unsuccessful in his first term, he made passage
of that amendment part of this platform for reelection in
1864. As we know, that amendment was passed into law in
December 1865 after the war’s end and Lincoln’s death.
The best way to gauge Lincoln’s commitment to civil
liberty is to read his own words. Although he wrote and
By David K. Hughes
spoke against civil injustice for many years, he first became
nationally known for his views during the seven debates
that he had with Stephen Douglas during the race in 1858
for the contested Senate seat from Illinois. In the first debate
on August 21, 1858 in Ottawa, Illinois, Lincoln responded
here are many well known visual images of Abrato Douglas’s opening remarks to argue against the repeal
ham Lincoln that come to mind when his name
of the Missouri Compromise. That repeal would have alarises in print or in conversation. He is the young
lowed the spread of slavery into the states of Kansas and
boy voraciously reading by firelight alone; the strong and
Nebraska.
lanky rail splitter of his later youth; the folksy circuit-riding
Lincoln expressed his hatred against the Democrats’ indifprairie lawyer and hopeful politician respectfully called
ference
to the spread of slavery in the clearest and strongest
Honest Abe; and the tall, gaunt, stovepipe hat wearing
possible terms: “I hate it because of the monstrous injustice
Commander in Chief with a constant sorrowful mien.
of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican
These physical images have left a lasting impression and
example of its just influence in the world; enables enemies
impact on this nation. We see how different he was from
of free institutions, with plausibility to taunt
those around him during those years, but also so
us as hypocrites; causes the real friends of
different from many of our leaders of today.
freedom to doubt our sincerity, and especially
But, obviously also, Lincoln was much more Lincoln truly
because it forces so many really good men
than the sum total of those oft remembered
was
the
savior
of
amongst ourselves into an open war with the
visual images of him. The real difference in him
very fundamental principles of civil liberty —
as both a man and leader was not his striking
criticizing the Declaration of Independence,
physical appearance but the depth of his intel- this nation at a
and insisting that there is no right principle of
lect, the breadth of his compassion, and his
action but self interest…. There is no reason
unwavering commitment to core fundamental time when it was
in the world why the negro is not entitled
principles that he never lost sight of. Above
splitting
apart
and
to all the natural rights enumerated in the
all he was guided by an unwavering belief in
Declaration of Independence — the right to
the nation’s founding principles of justice and is the father of our
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I
equality embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
modern civil rights hold that he is as much entitled to these as
the white man.”
Nowhere was that more evident than in his
Five years later, on November 19, 1863,
struggle against the institution of slavery and movement.
Lincoln repeated his beliefs in the opening
its spread across the young nation. Rightfully
line of his most famous address: “Four square
recognized as the seminal figure in the nation’s
and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
march towards racial equality, Lincoln is of
on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
course remembered for authoring the Emancipation Procand dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
lamation on September 22, 1862. That edict took effect
equal….”
January 1, 1863, and declared free all slaves residing in
These heartfelt words of Lincoln echo the beliefs that
territory in rebellion against the federal government. The
sustain this nation today. Lincoln truly was the savior of
proclamation told the nation and the world that the war
this nation at a time when it was splitting apart and is the
was being fought to not only save the union, but also to
father of our modern civil rights movement.
end slavery.
His words and legacy are especially appropriate to reDuring his first term in office, Lincoln and others feared
member this month as we celebrate both his birthday and
that the Proclamation would be viewed only as a temporary
Black History Month.
wartime measure. Thus, he supported and pushed adoption
Lincoln and Civil
Liberty: A Brief
Perspective
T
20
Civil Rights/Education
Studies to conduct research and teaching designed to fuse
campus and community knowledge. Professor Clyde
Woods has designed particularly innovative courses in the
department in recent years, which have included examinations of community efforts to rebuild New Orleans in the
wake of the failed federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the
growth of the prison system in California, and community
development programs in African-American areas in Los
Angeles. Department faculty would be happy to hear from
professionals involved in civil rights and social justice work
about possible ways of working together in the future.
Black Studies and
Fair Housing at
UCSB
By George Lipsitz
U
ndergraduate students at UCSB have been learning
about the federal Fair Housing Act and California’s
Unruh Act in an upper division course in Black Studies titled Housing, Race, and Inheritance. In this class, students explore the causes and consequences of residential
segregation, especially its influence on determining which
families accumulate assets that appreciate in value and can
be passed across generations.
Recent topics in the course have included struggles to
enforce existing fair housing laws, the problems posed by
the subprime lending crisis, the virtues of asset building
programs emphasizing home ownership, the problems
created by transit racism, and the imperatives of combining litigation, legislation, and education in creating new
democratic opportunities in society.
The course was team taught last year by myself and Michelle White, a longtime civil rights attorney and now director
of Affordable Housing Services in Pasadena. White’s presence
was made possible by the Division of Social Science’s Public
Policy Mentor in Residence Program, an initiative designed
to acquaint students with contemporary public policy issues
by bringing to campus experts with practical experience in
government, law, and social advocacy.
Each student in the Housing, Race, and Inheritance course
conducts an independent research project estimating the
costs of housing discrimination by comparing amenities,
opportunities, and hazards in zip codes where fair housing complaints have been lodged with the home zip code
of those making the complaints. At the conclusion of
the course in 2008, students presented their findings at a
national conference held at UCSB that featured presentations by distinguished litigators, law professors, and fair
housing advocates. Students who have taken this course
in past years have gone on to work as interns in local and
national fair housing advocacy organizations, while others
have used this training as an impetus to pursue advanced
studies in law.
The course on Housing, Race, and Inheritance emanates
from a broader commitment by the Department of Black
February 2009
George Lipsitz is a Professor in the Department of Black Studies
at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is the author
of eight books, including “A Life In The Struggle: Ivory Perry And
The Culture Of Opposition.” He may be reached at glipsitz@
blackstudies.ucsb.edu.
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Member SIPC
Appellate Brief
Risky Reliance on
Clerk’s Erroneous
Advice
By Herb Fox
A
would-be challenger to a Santa Barbara County
subdivision permit learned the hard way a lesson all
attorneys must heed: when in doubt, don’t rely
on the advice of a clerk of the court! The result here was
a mandatory dismissal of the Petition challenging the
County’s action — a dismissal affirmed by the Court of
Appeal.
The appellant, through her attorney, filed a petition for a
writ of mandate challenging the County’s approval of a subdivision of property. The petition was taken to the clerk’s
office for filing by the attorney’s legal assistant. The legal
assistant asked the superior court clerk if a summons was
required. The court clerk replied that all that was needed to
file the petition was a civil cover sheet. As a result, although
the petition was filed and served timely, no summons was
issued or served.
The County filed a motion to dismiss the petition for
failure to serve a summons in compliance with Gov’t Code
§66499.37. The appellant opposed the motion by filing
a declaration from the legal assistant and her attorney’s
paralegal stating that the court clerk told her no summons
was required. The trial court — the Hon. James Brown
SAVE THE DATE!
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presiding — granted the
motion to dismiss.
The Court of Appeal, in
an unpublished opinion
written by Justice Steven
Z. Perren, affirmed the
dismissal.
Gov’t. Code §66499.37
— a portion of the Subdivision Map Act — sets
forth a limitations period
that requires the filing of
a Petition for Writ of Mandate “and service of summons
Herb Fox
effected” within 90 days of
the land use agency’s decision. This is apparently a
unique provision, as summonses are generally not issued
in administrative mandamus actions. Nonetheless, the
Court of Appeal rejected the appellant’s estoppel argument,
finding that in light of the explicit statutory requirement of
a summons, reliance on the advice of the court clerk was
not reasonable.
The Court also rejected appellant’s impossibility argument.
Finally, the Court of Appeal declined Judge Brown’s invitation to create an equitable remedy. In the order granting
the motion to dismiss, Judge Brown stated that he “would
welcome an appellate decision resolving the issue where a
properly, and timely, served Petition simply lacks a Summons and authorizing this court when faced with a minor
defect in jurisdictional service under its broad inherent
power codified in Code of Civil Procedure section 128, ‘to
fashion new remedial procedures when it is advisable to
do so, in order to deal with new issues or protect the rights
of the parties.’”
But the Court of Appeal concluded that creating such
discretion would be to rewrite the statute. “Our role is to
interpret the laws, not make them.”
In closing, the Court stated, “Section 66499.37 requires
summons to be served. To the extent the court clerk is
giving erroneous or misleading advice to parties or their
counsel, the remedy lies with the administration of the
clerk’s office.”
The case is Gray v. Carbajal et al., Court of Appeal Case
No. B204575, issued on December 30, 2008. Appellant
was represented by Eric A. Woosley and Jordan T. Porter;
the County was represented by Mary Pat Barry of County
Counsel’s Office.
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24
Member FDIC
Criminal Justice
New Criminal Laws
for 2009
By Robert Sanger
I
n this month’s Criminal Justice column, I will take a
look at new laws passed in the last legislative session as well as one of the initiatives passed by the
voters. I’ll also include a brief reference to new Rules of
Court.
As an initial comment, less than 20 percent of the criminal
justice bills proposed this year passed. The ones that did
not make it — often ill-thought out or designed to advance
the career of a legislator by putting her or his name on a
“get-tough-on-crime bill” — were mind boggling. When you
see first hand the taxpayers’ money being spent on full-time
legislators with full-time staffs and layers of bureaucracy, it
has to make you wonder. How many new laws are really
necessary each year, if any? But that is the way it is.
Most get-tough sounding bills would simply result in
more people being warehoused in local jails and the state
prison system. We already have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and no one, except the correctional
officers’ union, wants to continue to fund it.
For better or worse, the criminal law bills that were passed
were fairly restrained this year. They should be of interest
to practitioners, whether or not they specialize in criminal
law. A complete history of all legislation — proposed,
passed, signed, or vetoed — can be found at the Legislative
Information Index (www.leginfo.ca.gov).
Senate Bill “40” Continues to Live
I have followed the life of Senate Bill 40 for some time in
this column. This was the bill introduced in the 2007 session to deal with the holding of the United States Supreme
Court in Cunningham v. California (2007) 549 U.S. 270. The
Court in Cunningham, it may be recalled, held that the triad
of potential sentences for any determinate felony sentence
was unconstitutional. In essence, the judge imposing prison
was mandated to choose the “mid” term of three potential
sentences unless s/he found that mitigating circumstances
outweighed aggravating ones (resulting in the lower term)
or that aggravating outweighed mitigating ones (resulting in
the upper term). The constitutional problem with that sysFebruary 2009
tem was that no jury had
found beyond a reasonable
doubt that these aggravating circumstances were
true. Under the pre-Senate
Bill 40 and pre-Cunningham
law, a defendant could
be punished for conduct
found true only by a judge.
Cunningham said you have
a right to a jury trial on the
factors giving rise to the
upper term and, absent
that, the upper term canRobert Sanger
not be imposed.
Senate Bill 40 was a
“quick fix” that simply
allowed the judge to impose the upper term without making factual findings. The judge had only to state her or his
reasons for the term. The original author, Senator Gloria
Romero, recognized that the bill was not the final answer
and the bill contained a sunset clause providing that it
would be ineffective as of January 1, 2009, unless extended.
The news is that the bill has been extended to January 1,
2011 (amending Penal Code Sections 1170 and 1170.3).
The back story, however, is that this is another temporary
fix. The fact is that the Legislators, particularly State Senators who have time to learn about government in California
(as opposed to the Assembly persons who are in and out on
term limits), know that the sentencing system in California
has to be overhauled. Hence, there has been an effort to
create a Sentencing Commission. It is clear that there is no
way that we can afford to continue to warehouse people,
especially without real rehabilitative efforts. The cost of
mindlessly increased sentences, particularly for non-violent
offenders, is a shocking reality. The prisons are at over twice
their capacity. The county jails are overcrowded and jailors
are letting people out early. The Governor knows this as
well but has his own idea of a commission to be controlled
by his office.
So the real news regarding Senate Bill 40 is that efforts
to reform sentencing or to create a Sentencing Commission were unsuccessful last year. The extension bill was,
once again, a stop-gap. And we can expect that the idea of
sentencing reform, and perhaps a Sentencing Commission,
will be on the agenda again in 2009.
Proposition 9
25
26
Criminal Justice
Sanger, continued from page 25
implement them. Nevertheless, whatever the voters thought
they were voting for this time, Proposition 9 passed.
The new “Victim’s Rights” bill was passed by the public
Most of the provisions of Proposition 9 were already
on November 4, 2008, and took effect the next day when
law in California. For instance, the rights of victims to be
certified by the Secretary of State. The warnings of such
present and to be heard at sentencing and to be advised
people as Madison and de Tocqueville regarding legislation
of the progress of criminal proceedings existed but now
by the uninformed public have gone unheeded in California
have a constitutional basis. There is a provision that these
with the initiative process. Worse yet, our Supreme Court
rights are “enforceable,” which may result in legal actions
starting with Brosnahan v. Eu (1981) 31 Cal.3d 1 has manand other proceedings by particularly overzealous alleged
aged to look the other way at initiatives that conglomerate
victims and victims’ lawyers against local prosecutors
legal changes under a “catchy” title.
themselves. To an extent, legislation might be necessary to
The “single subject” rule has been all but abrogated. If
implement some of this but it is unlikely that there will be
there was ever an idea behind the initiative process, it was
a considered consensus. Prosecutors’ offices already have
to let the voters decide simple and fundamental issues on
state and federally funded victims’ advocate programs and
a single subject. What has happened is that convoluted and
much is done to keep alleged victims advised of proceedmulti-faceted initiatives are put on the ballot that have titles
ings and their rights.
the public cannot vote against. Remember Proposition 8
There are seventeen paragraphs which are now inserted
from 1981, the “Victims’ Bill of Rights,” or Proposition 115
into the California Constitution, Article I, Section 28 and
of 1990, “The Victims’ Speedy Trial Act.” Proposition 9 also
several of them do seem to expand the law. The effect of
used “Victim’s” in the title.
these provisions will have to be worked out in the courts
The first two “Victim’s” propositions were sponsored
since many of them are vague or create procedural rules
by the California District Attorney’s Association (CDAA).
that may place an alleged victim at odds with not only the
Propositions 8 and, in particular 115,
defendant but with the prosecutor and
gave district attorneys a tremendous
the court. For instance, alleged victims
number of powers and rights — many When you see first hand the
theoretically can take appeals from
of which could not get through the leg- taxpayers’ money being spent on decisions to continue cases and can,
islature. The CDAA could argue that
full-time legislators with full-time possibly, argue that they can interfere
victims were the beneficiary of some
with negotiated resolutions of criminal
staffs
and
layers
of
bureaucracy,
of Proposition 8’s and 115’s provisions,
cases.
in the sense it made convictions easier, it has to make you wonder.
Proposition 9 has also created sigbut victim’s rights, per se, were not
nificant changes in the parole process.
How many new laws are really
the subject of the greater part of those
Victims already have a central role in
necessary each year, if any?
initiatives.
that process and victims and prosecuIronically, despite the title “Victims’
tors are already invited to parole hearSpeedy Trial Act,” Proposition 115 acings. But this may be a further tool in
tually sought to repeal the Constitutional right to a speedy
the effort to effectively eliminate parole for people who
trial along with virtually every other right a suspect or acare sentenced to life. As a practical matter, such people are
cused had. Of course, this litany of repealed constitutional
currently not being released on parole anyway. Even when
rights could not supersede rights protected by the United
it is recommended, the Governor generally overrides the
States Constitution. Nevertheless, the California Supreme
parole board’s recommendation. One of the provisions of
Court in Raven v. Deukmajian (1991) 52 Cal.3d 336 found
this new proposition allows the parole board to extend
that the wholesale repeal of constitutional rights in the
the length of time between parole hearings to as much as
midst of an initiative amending multiple other constitu15 years.
tional and statutory provisions amounted to an impermisThere will be issues to be litigated on the part of the acsible constitutional revision and held that portion of the
cused and the convicted regarding retroactivity and possible
initiative invalid.
ex post facto challenges to Proposition 9. The Proposition
The new Proposition 9 is more focused on actual victims’
also would seem to violate the “single subject” rule (pace
rights and powers. However, it was actually opposed by
Brosnahan) or the constitutional revision rule (per Raven)
some prosecutors, because it gave alleged victims too many
and is liable to be challenged on other grounds. Some of
rights and increased the burden on prosecutors’ offices to
its provisions could be in direct conflict with other State
February 2009
27
Criminal Justice
and federal Constitutional provisions. And we can expect
that alleged victims and their lawyers will be filing actions
as well.
In a perfect world (allowing for the imperfection of crime
itself), only the guilty would be charged and all alleged
victims would be actual victims. In our real world, it does
not work this way and courts and prosecutors may rue the
day of Propositions 9’s passage. We will see.
Other Highlights
Statute of Limitations on Felonies
One new law of interest is the amendment of Penal Code
Section 804. Interestingly, until this amendment, the commencement of a criminal action in a felony occurred at the
time of the filing of an Information or an Indictment. The
idea was that, in a felony, either a complaint and preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding was necessary to
screen cases before the actual criminal case proceeded. This
was different from a misdemeanor where a prosecution
could be commenced by the simple filing of a complaint.
While this makes sense on one level, there was an unintended consequence. If the prosecutors filed a felony
complaint and did not seek an arrest warrant, the statute
of limitations would not be tolled until the filing of the
Information after a holding order at the preliminary examination. In cases such as complicated white-collar matters with extensive pre-preliminary hearing litigation, the
statute of limitations could run if the prosecutor was not
paying attention. The new Penal Code 804 changes this.
Felony cases are now officially commenced upon the filing
of a felony complaint.
Highway Workers and Academic Researchers
Another series of statutes involves special protection for
certain classes of people. There are special penalties for
assault or battery of “highway workers” under Penal Code
Sections 241.5 and 243.65. There is also a new Penal Code
Section 422.4 that makes it a crime to publish the personal
information of academic researchers for the purpose of
exposing them to violence. Arguably these crimes are
covered by existing law, but these groups now have their
own statutes.
New Drugs to be Avoided
It is true that bananas were never made illegal as a result of
Donovan’s reference to mellow yellow. But current legislators have decided that Khat should be illegal under Health
and Safety Code Section 11377(b)(3). Khat is, apparently,
a stimulant that causes excitement, loss of appetite, and
28
euphoria. Although this sounds like it could be advertised as
a good thing by a major drug company during prime time,
possession of Khat is now a misdemeanor. Another drug,
known as sage of the seers, Salvio Divinorum, is now made
illegal under Penal Code Section 379 despite questions as
to the wisdom of doing so.
Driving Digitally
If you have a GPS, Vehicle Code Section 26708 has been
amended to allow a unit within a 5-inch square in the lowerleft corner of the windshield (for a left-hand driver car) and
a 7-inch square in the lower-right corner. And for those of
you who neither assault highway workers nor read their
large illuminated signs, you are no longer allowed to text
message while driving pursuant to Vehicle Code Sections
12810.3 and 23123.5.
Weapons of Mass Distraction
It was already illegal to possess or import an undetectable
knife, which undoubtedly has made California a safer place.
The legislature has now made the rest of the world safer
by making it a misdemeanor to export undetectable knives
according to Penal Code Section 12001.1. It is unclear how
you could export them without possessing them, but now
we know we are covered.
“Brass” knuckles are now made illegal if they are made
of hard paper or wood (Penal Code Section 12020.1) and
it is now illegal to display an imitation firearm at public or
private schools or colleges (Penal Code Section 12556). You
may only possess a less-than-lethal weapon or stun gun at
a college or university with the permission of the president
or chancellor (Penal Code Section 626.10) and it is illegal to
sell them to minors (Penal Code Section 12655).
Electronic Stalking
There are a number of new crimes relating to radio
transmissions, electronic piracy, and Internet threats against
minors under 14 (Civil Code Sections 1798.79 to 1798.795,
Penal Code Section 1202.4 and Penal Code Section 273i,
respectively). But one of the major additions is an extensive
electronic stalking statute under Penal Code Section 653.2.
In essence, it punishes the use of an electronic communications device to intentionally place a person in fear of his or
her safety or the safety of the person’s immediate family.
In addition, it is illegal to place information on the Internet
— including using e-mail or hyperlinks or making material
available for downloading — that would harass another
person and would incite or produce an unlawful action.
Criminal Justice
Drunk Driving
The interlock device industry has lobbied successfully
to require that their instruments be placed in vehicles as a
result of a number of additional violations (Vehicle Code
Section 23573). Courts also now may require a device as a
condition of probation in ordinary DUIs with “heightened
consideration” — i.e., cases with a blood alcohol level of
.15 or more (Vehicle Code Section 23575). Plus, the consequences of a “wet reckless” conviction are becoming closer yet
to one for drunk driving (Vehicle Code Section 23103.5).
Consequences
If someone violates any of these laws or any of the older
ones, and is sent to jail, she or he should not invite anyone
to visit who has a handcuff key or that person will be guilty
of a misdemeanor (Penal Code Section 4575(d)). A variety
of sex offenders will not be allowed to posses firearms (Penal Code Section 12022.3 and 12022.8) and probation will
be prohibited to others (Penal Code Section 1203.065(b),
1203.067 and 112021(c)(1)). Furthermore, the sex-offender
Web site law is amended to include names, pictures and
addresses of people convicted of a larger list of crimes (Penal
Code Section 290.46).
My Favorite
There are several other criminal law related statutes pertaining to such things as vandalism, public housing fraud,
domestic violence, and gangs. Most are more technical than
substantive. But my favorite of the year is the addition of
Penal Code Section 496e, which makes it a crime to pos-
sess, buy, or receive stolen fire hydrant parts — this would
already be a crime, but now fire hydrants have their own
code section joining the ranks of highway workers and
academic researchers.
Rules of Court
Finally for the new year, there has been a substantial revision of the California Rules of Court for misdemeanor and
infraction appeals and writ petitions. The Judicial Council
has also created and revised a number of forms in these
same areas. The changes are too numerous to examine
here, but it appears that they will make the process a bit
more user-friendly.
Conclusion
Again, we might ask, do we need a full-time legislature
and its incredibly expensive staff, overhead, and bureaucracy? You might also ask, do we need the initiative process? Or maybe you think it is just fine. Either way, like
every year, we have to get caught up on the new laws — I
hope this gives a start to criminal practitioners and those
who want to know.
Robert Sanger has been a criminal defense lawyer in Santa Barbara for over 35 years. He is a Certified Criminal Law Specialist,
a member of the Board of Governors of California Attorneys for
Criminal Justice, a Director of Death Penalty Focus, and a member of the Sentencing Committee of the ABA. He is a partner at
Sanger & Swysen.
Civil Rights
Ah Tye, continued from page 8
civil rights activity in the employment field, especially
in a financially-depressed era with increasing layoffs and
discharges, which must be accomplished legally. With the
advent of autism as a major issue in education, there will
be more cases and an evolution in the methodologies to
treat this challenging condition within public schools. Affordable housing in the expensive south coast region will
remain problematical even in the midst of declining property values; affordable housing advocates must persevere
especially in a climate of accelerated foreclosures, job losses,
and homelessness.
Disability cases will continue to expand as disabled persons become more vocal and aware of their statutory rights.
As evinced by recent State Street demonstrations as well
February 2009
as across the state in a concerted “March for Humanity,”
disabled groups will continue to protest budget cuts and
advocate for programs and healthcare.
The classic civil rights of race is always in the foreground,
but could be alleviated by a demographic balancing of the
population with more minorities, and by the tolerant and
progressive attitude of a new generation.
These are but some perceived civil rights diagnostics. If
civil rights is defined broadly as “equal opportunity,” not
“favoritism,” then it is an encompassing concept for us and
our future progeny.
Kirk Ah Tye is the Directing Attorney of the CRLA Santa Barbara office, is a past President of the Santa Barbara County Bar
Association, and is a current Master in the William L. Gordon
Inn of Court.
29
New Lawyer of the Month
Coast, what brought you to Santa Barbara?”
Meet Rachel Boss
By Adam Carralejo, Law Student Intern
R
achel Boss is our new lawyer for the month of February. A Temple Law School graduate, she passed
the bar exam in 2008 and has joined the Santa
Barbara legal community. She is seeking work in a variety
of areas, including civil litigation.
Ms. Boss currently works for the Law Offices of Lisa
Gilinger representing people on Social Security Disability
claims. She also does contract work for local attorneys.
She will also be working as a volunteer
research attorney for Judge George C. Eskin soon. She is currently actively looking
both at job opportunities with local firms
and strongly considering starting her own
general practice. We interviewed her as a
means of introduction to the Santa Barbara
legal community.
“What inspired you to go to law
school and become a lawyer?”
My dad and his parents came to the United
States from the Netherlands in 1950 after
losing everything in WWII. They didn’t
know any English and only got by because
they received help from a lot of great people.
My dad instilled in me an ideal of service
to others and got me involved in Amnesty
International when I was a kid. When I got
out of college I knew I wanted to go into human rights or
law. I chose law because I wanted to work with people
directly: to actually sit down face to face with people and
work out solutions to their problems.
In law school, I took a general practice curriculum because
all over the country, and it’s especially bad in California, the
traditional general legal practice affordable to the working
and lower middle class is hard to find. As a result, you get
lots and lots of people representing themselves because
they cannot find an affordable lawyer.
“You worked and went to school on the East
30
My sister and I have talked about moving to California
for some time. She actually used to live in Los Angeles
and I have family in the San Francisco area. I looked at
several schools in California but when it came time to go
to law school, Temple offered me a scholarship and nobody else did. I just could not afford to come out here and
pay out-of-state tuition. Temple is also well known for its
trial advocacy program so it turned out to be a wonderful
opportunity.
When I finished school, I knew I wanted to come out to
California. I thought about Santa Barbara as my friend Lisa
Gilinger has lived here for years and always raved about it.
However, I could not afford to live here while I studied for
the bar — I stayed in Oakland instead. But later Lisa needed
part-time help and offered me a place to stay. I jumped on
the opportunity to move to Santa Barbara and I love it here.
I’m trying to set down long term roots and my sister is going
to come out to join me, probably this summer.
“Prior to entering law school you
worked for Amnesty International,
can you tell us about your
experience working in the global
civil rights arena?”
I was an area coordinator for Amnesty
in the Washington area responsible for six
local Amnesty chapters. I organized trainings, fund raising campaigns, protest letter
writing campaigns, protest marches, community meetings, some lobbying, and even
street theater around human rights issues,
primarily the death penalty, police brutality, and the conflict diamond trade.
Through Amnesty, I met Ibiduni Jones,
the
director of Self Help Initiative in the
Rachel Boss
Commonwealth (SEHI), a small Sierra Leonine charity. I worked for her researching
and drafting reports for grant applications to international
organizations such as the World Bank and the African
Development Bank, fundraising for housing for internally
displaced persons and orphanages for former child soldiers,
and lobbying for the Clean Diamonds Act, a bill to monitor the provenance of diamonds imported into the United
States and keep out those being used to fund violent conflicts.
“What else are you passionate about outside of
the practice of law?”
You mean there is life outside of the law? Shocking. Well,
New Lawyer of the Month
I am still passionate about human rights. I stayed active in
Amnesty International throughout college. Now that I’m
getting established here in Santa Barbara, I’ll be looking to
join the local chapter. As my parents were both librarians
I grew up a bookworm and have a particular interest in
history. My undergraduate degree is in African History. I’m
also passionate about my family.
“What can you tell us about your family?”
My parents met in San Antonio at the 1983 American
Library Association convention when they shared a cab. My
dad was living in Baltimore and my mother in Chicago so
they had a whirlwind romance conducted half in airports
before getting married and having me. If they hadn’t gotten
divorced a few years later it would have made for a great
movie. Today my dad has a small art gallery as a retirement
project and is having a blast. My mother and my step-father,
himself a retired librarian, run a bed and breakfast in Virginia. I also have four siblings. My sister, who I mentioned
earlier, is an artist in New Jersey and will be coming out
here soon, two step-brothers, and a step-sister.
to find solutions to their problems.
I intentionally took a general practice curriculum and got
a variety of experience in law school doing everything from
personal injury and bad faith insurance to unemployment
compensation hearings, mortgage foreclosure, criminal
defense, and social security disability and I loved them all
because at the end of the day there was that satisfaction
in helping somebody, not to mention the intellectual challenge. I like that too.
“What do you expect to bring to the Santa
Barbara community?”
“You clearly have an interest in public service
and helping the little guy. What in particular
interests you about helping people with Social
Security Disability claims?”
Well, there’s a general and a more specific answer to
that. Generally, I’m bringing some strong advocacy skills,
empathy for clients, and dedication to good work. The
standard cliché answer, but still very true. Specifically, well
that depends, on what I’m doing.
Currently, at Lisa Gilinger’s office I’m helping her keep
people from literally going under. It sounds dramatic but
many social security disability clients by the time they
get a hearing before a judge have spent a year, two years,
three years, sometimes more in the system racking up huge
medical bills and unable to work so they need benefits
yesterday. Moreover, while most clients with attorneys
win their disability hearings, most pro se litigants lose so
getting an attorney is important.
I did some Social Security Disability hearings in the legal
aid office while in law school. It was very rewarding because you really got to help people who really don’t have
anywhere else to turn. That’s the main thing that I like
about law; the opportunity to work closely with people
To welcome Rachel to our legal community or to inquire about
her availability for contract work or employment, e-mail her at
anotherrachel@gmail.com or contact her at (805) 696-8051.
John Lewis, Ph.D. Is Pleased to Announce the Opening of His
Clinical and Forensic Psychology Practice
Dr. Lewis is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in forensic assessment and
consultation. The former Chief of Psychology at Maryland’s maximum security psychiatric
hospital, he has conducted numerous pre- and post-trial forensic psychological evaluations.
A seasoned examiner and expert witness, Dr. Lewis communicates his findings in a clear and
effective manner.
For more information about Dr. Lewis and his practice,
please visit www.johnlewisphd.com
John Lewis, Ph.D. (PSY 22281)
11 West Victoria, #209
February 2009
www.johnlewisphd.com
jlewis@johnlewisphd.com
(805) 504.9083
31
Civic Opportunities
A Community’s
Commitment to
Excel
By Julie Carlson
“M
y name is R.J. M****, and I am a collegebound student.”
“My name is Tiara D****, and I am the
parent of a college-bound student.”
This is how we begin each monthly meeting of Project
Excel, a community-based, academic preparation program
devoted to helping underrepresented students achieve their
aspirations of attending college.
As Faculty Director of this program and in honor of
Black History Month, I was asked by the editors of this
publication to share some information about Project Excel.
Created in 2004 by myself and former Santa Barbara City
council member and youth advocate, Babatunde Folayemi,
with the assistance of then-Director of UCSB’s Office of
Academic Preparation and Equal Opportunity, Dr. Joseph
Castro, Project Excel is devoted to ensuring admission to
a four-year college or university for local African American, American Indian, and other underrepresented public
school students by working intensively with students and
their families throughout their schooling. The program is
partially sponsored by the UCSB and is currently in its third
year of operation in Santa Barbara.
At Project Excel, the belief is that there is nothing mysterious about gaining admission to college but that, for
traditionally under-served populations, being in a position
to envision a future that includes college is one of the first,
and most difficult, steps toward arriving there. Project
Excel works to make that vision a reality by beginning at
the beginning.
Project Excel bases its motto on the words of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. who on January 7, 1968 encouraged our
commitment to educational opportunity for all: “I said to
my children, ‘I’m going to work to do everything that I can
do to see that you get a good education. I don’t ever want
you to forget that there are millions of God’s children who
will not and cannot get a good education, and I don’t want
you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will
never be what you ought to be until they are what they
ought to be.” However, the challenge of ensuring all stu32
dents receive an education is sizable if you consider these
startling statistics.
In the past decade, the student body of the entire UC
system has been comprised of roughly 3-4% African Americans and less than 1% American Indians. Worse, only about
5% of the approximately 478,000 African American high
school students in the entire state of California are eligible
for admission at any of the ten University of California
campuses (see “University of California Freshman ADMITS
by Race/Ethnicity Fall 1997 through 2008” at www.ucop.
edu/news/factsheets/2008/fall_2008_admissions_table-1.
pdf).  As a state and a nation, we espouse the personal, intellectual, and financial advantages of a college education, yet
we are nowhere near equity in offering that possibility to all
of our citizenry. Project Excel seeks to alter this scenario.
Working with 25-30 local African American, American
Indian, and Chicano/Latina students in grades five through
twelve, Project Excel provides extensive services to assist students on their path to college. Program Director,
Keith Terry, coordinates and oversees all daily operations.
These include running the office at Franklin Community
Center, providing counseling on a-g course requirements,
monitoring 6-week progress reports and grades, meeting
with school staff and counselors, networking with other
community organizations, and making home-visits.
In addition, Project Excel attempts to pair each student with a mentor and/or tutor, both of whom work to
strengthen the students’ study habits, self-esteem, and
pleasure in learning. Mentors function like college-going Big
Brothers/Big Sisters, and tutors give concrete assistance in
individual subjects (especially English and Math).
Project Excel runs workshops on college admissions, financial aid, and test preparation. It also coordinates student
participation in summer enrichment programs, such as the
Stanford Great Books program, UCSB Summer Research
Mentorship Program, UCSB Tech Trek, the Patricia Henley Foundation summer theater program, the College of
Creative Studies Summer Arts Institute, and the College
Readiness Program.
One of Project Excel’s primary goals is to strengthen its
parent-programming component to better assist parents
in facilitating their children’s academic aspirations as well
as offering them respite and support. Another is to bridge
relations between post-secondary educational institutions
and local communities of color, also a mission of one of our
partners, the UCSB Center for Black Studies Research.
Project Excel has been a success. To date, all of the participating high school seniors (8 since 2005) have gone on
to college, and 7 out of 8 are currently enrolled in 2- or
February 2009
33
Please join us for
Santa Barbara Women Lawyers Foundation
2nd Annual
+1/3#0"#
+",#11
t Cocktails t Dinner tGaming t
t Wine TastingtSilent Auction t
t Dancing t Live Dessert Auction t
tDestination Auction t
Friday, February 20, 2009
7:00-11:00PM
Chase Palm Park Center
236 East Cabrillo Blvd
Santa Barbara
Major Donor of Event
Brownstein | Hyatt
Farber | Schreck
Sponsorship Opportunities
Please support our fundraiser
by becoming an Event Sponsor.
Sponsorship Donations are $250
$75 per person; $125 per couple
(Proceeds benefit SBWL Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to law students and
financial support to educational and charitable projects consistent with the mission and goals of SBWL 2008.
Beneficiaries include Rape Crisis Center, Casa Serena, Domestic Violence Solutions and Teen Court.)
RSVP to Stephanie Ball: sball@bhfs.com or (805) 882-1433
34
Civil Liberties
Locker, continued from page 9
Courthouse in order to bring awareness to the senseless
murder. Santa Barbara City Mayor Marty Blum, Santa
Barbara City Councilmember Helene Schneider and Santa
Barbara County (Second District) Supervisor Janet Wolf
each spoke to an estimated 150 people attending the solemn
Sunken Gardens ceremony about the ills of bigotry.
In September 2008, the regional office participated in a
community forum held at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Camarillo. The evening focused on the challenges presented
by white supremacist activities within Ventura County.
Speakers from the Ventura District Attorneys’ Office, the
Ventura Sheriff’s Department and ADL participated. The
event informed the community about the problems that
skinheads are creating in the community, instructed the
public about the constituent elements of hate crimes and the
steps that can be taken proactively to respond to the challenges posed by them. Approximately 80 people attended
the event in addition to the numerous law enforcement and
other government officials. 
In furtherance of its goals of proactively addressing bias
and bigotry, the Santa Barbara Tri-Counties regional office
launched ADL’s No Place for Hate® campaign locally in
2003. That initiative provides powerful tools to schools
and other institutions to help them to address issues and
attitudes of prejudice and bias in order to build more
inclusive school environments. In order for a school to
obtain the designation as a No Place for Hate® institution,
the school must form a committee to oversee its anti-bias
activities, commit to a “Resolution of Respect,” which is
a pledge to combat prejudice, and complete at least three
activities that address prejudice and bias over the course
of a school year. As an example, one of the Santa Barbara
School District’s suggested activities calls for all students
to participate in an essay assignment about Martin Luther
King, Jr., to coincide with a local march scheduled to occur
on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
No Place for Hate® and Community of
Respect™
According to Jackie Reid, Associate Regional Director,
more than forty local schools have participated in the local
No Place for Hate® campaign since it was launched. Every
May, the regional office holds a reception to acknowledge
the schools that have participated. According to Ms. Reid,
this year ADL plans to host an additional reception in
Ventura County in order to honor the many schools that
are participating in that area.
February 2009
The Community of Respect™ is an ADL initiative that
was launched in January 2008 in order to encourage individuals, organizations and communities to fight prejudice,
bigotry and discrimination while promoting respect and
appreciation for diversity. Similar to the No Place for Hate®
campaign, organizations, businesses and agencies wishing
to attain the Community of Respect™ designation must
form a committee to oversee that organization’s anti-bias
activities, commit to a “Resolution of Respect” and complete three activities designed to create an atmosphere of
respect and understanding. So far, seven local organizations,
including the City of Santa Barbara, have received the Community of Respect™ designation.
In order to honor local citizens that embody and promote
the ideals that ADL endorses, Santa Barbara’s regional
office also hosts an Annual Community Service Awards
Dinner, at which it traditionally honors local citizens with
two awards: the Distinguished Community Service Award
and the Education Award. This year, at ADL’s 33rd Annual
Community Service Awards Dinner, esteemed local philanthropists Irma and Morrie Jurkowitz and the venerable
Santa Barbara Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Chuck
Slosser, received ADL’s Distinguished Community Service
Award, while Jo Ann Caines, principal of La Cumbre Junior
High School (“LCJHS”), received ADL’s Education Award.
The regional office’s decision to honor Caines resulted
from Caines’ work directed at confronting bias at LCJHS.
Consistent with this goal, Caines launched the “One Book,
One School” campaign, an ADL-United Way of Santa Barbara County collaborative project. With Caines’ guidance
and the assistance of the United Way and ADL, the entire
staff and student body of LCJHS read a book that addresses
the topic of bullying. The school then followed a year-long
school-wide curriculum that incorporated activities from
ADL’s A World of Difference® Institute and videos from
the Respect for All project.
Through these and other educational efforts, ADL hopes
to help foster a more equal and less bigoted society. And
in the meantime, through cooperation with law enforcement agencies, the organization aims to promote a safer
and more just society. ADL aims to host additional events,
including continuing legal education opportunities, in the
Santa Barbara community in the coming year.
Brett Locker is a partner at Schley Look Guthrie & Locker LLP
in Santa Barbara and the current chair of ADL’s Santa Barbara/
Tri-Counties regional Civil Rights Committee.
35
In Memoriam
and devoted husband, one who actually likes to dance. He
is thoughtful and has an uncanny genius for selecting the
appropriate gift for every occasion. He is a committed big
brother. He is a trusted friend and confidant. He is always
ready to extend a helping hand or lead the charge in pursuit
of a worthy cause. He is considerate of the rights of others
and has a prickly, righteous intolerance for the ill-mannered,
By Bruce Glesby
which he is not reluctant to express.
As we continue to observe him, we begin to recognize
his identity. He is our partner, our friend, our colleague. He
is Jay Lynn Michaelson.
Jay’s accomplishments and what he meant to those
omewhere out there in the far reaches of the universe
many, many of us who had the privilege of sharing his
today, there is a picturesque city, nestled between
company are not measured by the quantity of his years,
rugged mountains and a tranquil shoreline. The city
but by their quality. He was passionate and compassionate
is abuzz with vitality. Commerce is everywhere. Standing
about everything he did. Yet, he had a knack for expressing
in the center of town is a nondescript building. A bank is
his passion without offending others. He had a life rich in
on the first floor. The second floor houses a bankruptcy law
family, a close and lasting legal partnership, and notable
firm. The firm is high end. It specializes in Chapter 11 filings,
achievements. He practiced law successfully
catering to foxes — the risk takers, visionaries,
for over 30 years with the firm that bears his
and imposters, who have been plagued by a
name. He was exceptionally well liked and recombination of bad luck, myopia, and greed.
spected. These traits and accomplishments are
Times in this corner of the universe are hard
the hallmarks of a life well spent.
and the bankruptcy business is good.
He had a passion for skiing, tennis, good
If we had a telescope trained on this law office
food, city life and his alma mater, USC. On the
we would see that the firm has recently hired
slopes, he dressed stylishly; what he lacked in
a new attorney. There is something familiar
form, he made up in speed. On the tennis court,
about him. He is tall, trim and high-waisted.
what he lacked in innate ability, he made up in
His grooming is meticulous. His head, full of
enthusiasm.
dark brown hair, is perfectly coifed. Not a single
It is said that people often die the way they
strand is too long, too short, and/or out of place.
Jay L. Michaelson
live. That was true for Jay. He graced us not only
He is impeccably dressed in a conservative busiwith the zest in which he embraced life, but
ness suit befitting of his legal specialty. He has
also with uncomplaining dignity and bravery with which
an interesting, pleasant face and engaging smile. His pearly
he confronted his illness and his imminent mortality. When
white teeth complements his hair.
he was diagnosed with cancer he asked himself, “Why,
The partners at his new firm are duly impressed. After
me?” After careful contemplation, he found his answer,
less than a month, they recognize the new hire’s measur“Why, not me?”
able talent for bankruptcy practice. He has a keen intellect,
Jay is gone now. We wish him well on his new journey
sharp analytical skills, and nearly flawless judgment. In
through the cosmos. Inside we are deeply saddened by
stressful situations, he is unflappable and in control. He
the realization that the life he shared with us is over…
is candid, articulate, and persuasive. His people skills are
far too early and far sooner than any of us expected; but,
extraordinary. He is extremely likeable. He is genuine and
fortunately, the trail he blazed here on Earth remains. For
at times humorously self-effacing. It is clear, he soon will
those left behind, for his family, friends, and colleagues,
become a marquee player in the firm; in time, his ethics,
we take solace from our having known him, and from our
skill and devotion to the law will elevate him in the eyes
knowledge that a portion of him lives on in all of us.
of his new peers to the unofficial rank of “Dean” of the
Goodbye our friend, we will not soon forget you.
local bankruptcy bar.
As we continue to observe this interesting man, we are
Bruce Glesby is a partner at Griffith & Thornburgh, LLP and a forquick to conclude that the lawyer in him complements but
mer Editor-in-Chief of this publication. He was a colleague and friend
does not begin to fully define his character. He is the kind of
of Mr. Michaelson, who passed away on January 14, 2009.
warm, nurturing father every child deserves. He is a loving
A Tribute to
Jay L. Michaelson,
1941-2009
S
36
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38
In Memoriam
Remembering a
California Civil
Rights Hero
By Janet K. McGinnis
O
n December 21, 2008, our legal community lost
a prominent civil rights lawyer, Albert Henry
Meyerhoff Jr.
PBS’s Bill Moyers spoke of his good friend during last
week’s broadcast: “Some weeks ago, Al Meyerhoff was
diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. One day he was
having dinner with his friends, the next he was in a hospital
bed for Thanksgiving, hoping to stay among the living. To
his bemusement, doctors pumped some of the most toxic
chemicals known to man into his bloodstream, trying to
destroy the cancer. It didn’t work, and just before Christmas, Al died. He was age 61. On his deathbed, he wrote
an op-ed piece about the risks and benefits of chemicals,
which the Los Angeles Times published posthumously — Our
Champions, Our Killers. Al Meyerhoff was a hero to many
and, to bullies, an unrelenting foe.”
Al Meyerhoff inspired many students and lawyers during
his 30 years of advocacy. He was among the first Americans
identifying environmental and health dangers as implicating human and civil rights, with unique impacts among
the young, elderly, poor, and rural populations. When he
became a lawyer, few envisioned careers as civil rights
or environmental or poverty lawyers. His dedication and
success helped to define, expand, and gain acceptance for
broadly interpreting “civil rights” and for careers in civil
rights law.
After graduating from Cornell Law School in 1972, Meyerhoff turned down high-paying law work to join California
Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) for $60 a week to represent farm workers and the rural poor. He challenged the
University of California over its underwriting of research
on farm mechanization, saying it hurt farm workers and
family farms. He successfully challenged a California law
that prevented illegal immigrant children from attending
public school.
In 1981, Meyerhoff joined the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) and became director of its public health
program. He helped pressure the chemical industry to
February 2009
adopt tougher standards on pesticides, invoking an obscure
regulation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which
banned using animal carcinogens in processed foods. His
lawsuit helped persuade the industry to ban several dozen
carcinogenic pesticides. He spearheaded a campaign for a
California law to require disclosure by chemical companies
and he continued battling if they failed to comply.
In 1988, he joined Coughlin Stoia, a class action law firm,
from which he prosecuted a Saipan lawsuit, sued Enron,
and challenged Mexican cross-border trucking, asserting
that it violated United States health and safety standards.
He was lead counsel in several labor and environmental
cases, including UNITE v. The Gap, contesting the sale of
garments manufactured under sweatshop conditions in the
Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands, and Public Citizen
v. US DOT, challenging cross border trucking from Mexico
in violation of American environmental laws.
He made history with his advocacy on behalf of immigrant workers — mostly Asian women — recruited to the
Pacific island of Saipan to toil 12 hours a day, seven days
a week, under humiliating conditions for a pittance. On
behalf of 30,000 workers, Meyerhoff filed a class action
against some of America’s biggest clothing manufacturers
resulting in the companies’ agreements to pay the workers
back wages and to improve working conditions.
During his 17 years with NRDC, Meyerhoff testified
more than 50 times before the United States Senate and
House of Representatives. He authored numerous articles
for scholarly and general publications, including the Stanford
Law Review, EPA Journal, Environmental Law Quarterly, The
New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles
Times. He also blogged for Huffington Post — www.huffingtonpost.com — where his articles may still be found. Until
recently, when his term expired, Meyerhoff served on the
Sierra Club Board of Trustees. In 2006, he was selected as
Trial Lawyer of the Year by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
and he also received lifetime achievement awards from the
ACLU and the League of Conservation Voters.
“He was a warrior against the chemical industry,” said
Frances Beinecke, president of the NRDC. “He was a champion of the underserved. He fought long and hard to make
the world a safer place for farm workers, for kids, for people
working in factories, and for people living in poverty who
couldn’t represent themselves.”
Janet K. McGinnis practices general litigation, including in the
areas of employment and civil rights. Currently, she serves on
boards of CRLA, the Anti-Defamation League, and Santa Barbara
Symphony Orchestra Association.
39
In Memoriam
The Passing of a
Great Civil Rights
Lawyer is Mourned
By Lol Sorensen
“C
harles Morgan was [a] great lawyer, [and an]
even greater man.” Thus began the obituary of Charles Morgan, Jr. published in the
Tuscaloosa News, the newspaper of the home of the University of Alabama. Morgan, age 78, died on January 8, 2009
at his home in Destin, Florida from complications related
to Alzheimer’s disease.
40
Morgan graduated from the University of Alabama and
later sued to desegregate that institution. This was one of
many influential cases handled by Morgan in the formative
days of the civil rights movement.
Early in his career, while working at a large firm in Birmingham, Morgan established his reputation as an activist
by representing indigent African Americans. Then, in September 1963, a day after the firebombing of Birmingham’s
16th Street Baptist Church, Morgan addressed the city’s
Young Businessman’s Club challenging his white brethren
to look within themselves for the seeds of racial bigotry
and violence.
“Four little girls were killed in Birmingham yesterday. A
mad, remorseful worried community asks, ‘Who did it?
Who threw that bomb? Was it a Negro or a white?’ The
answer should be, ‘We all did it....’ Every person in this
community who has in any way contributed during the
past several years to the popularity of hatred is at least as
guilty as the demented fool who threw the bomb.”
The community responded to Morgan’s courageous
speech with death threats and crosses burned on his lawn.
He soon moved his family to Atlanta, where he opened
the Southern Regional Office of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a luminous career spanning decades, Morgan argued
many leading cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps the
most important of which was Reynolds v. Sims (1964) 377
U.S. 533, which helped establish the “one man, one vote”
principle by ending the use of gerrymandering that gave
greater power to white, rural politicians who controlled
the Alabama Legislature.
Morgan successfully sued to force Alabama and other
southern states to integrate their juries and their prisons.
He also represented Julian Bond when the Georgia General
Assembly refused to seat the newly elected legislator after
he spoke out against the Vietnam War.
“He was one of the most important people” in civil rights
litigation, said Bond, now the chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “He was
a giant who remade the South through the courtroom as
Martin Luther King remade it through marching feet.”
Reflecting on Morgan’s early career, the Tuscaloosa News
wrote, “It was a time when ‘it took guts to have guts.’
Charles Morgan, Jr.... was a man of formidable intestinal
fortitude.” And a shining example of the central role a
lawyer can play in the defense of civil rights.
Legal Aid Foundation
of Santa Barbara County
invites you to
DISCOVER
5 TH Annual Taste for Justice
LEGAL AID’S NORTH COUNTY FUNDRAISER
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March 7, 2009 ~ 2:00pm
CHALLENGE YOUR SENSES
Wine, Beer & Food Tasting
Fabulous Live and Silent Auction
White, Zuckerman, Warsavsky,
Luna, Wolf & Hunt, LLP offers much
more than accounting expertise. Our
creative ideas and new strategies
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In family law, you need professionals
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RSVP Niki 805.963.6754 x109
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To attend our Santa Barbara Family Law
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There is no charge for the dinner or program
and you will receive one hour of MCLE credit.
THE OTHER BAR
Free confidential assistance to those in the
legal community with substance abuse problems.
Weekly Other Bar recovery Meetings are
held in many areas, and others are being
established. For times and locations, or
to start a meeting in your area, contact the
number or website below.
We recently opened our Santa Barbara office,
located at 831 State Street, Suite 291.
Our three California locations include:
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818-981-4226
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Orange County
949-219-9816
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Provider of Certified MCLE Instructors
MCLE courses available on our website
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Confidential Hotline:
(800) 222-0767
February 2009
41
Legal Community
Kay Kuns, hitherto a Solvang attorney, is now Judge Kuns. Two dozen
sitting and retired judges, as well as
about 200 others, turned out to for
a “robing” ceremony in Solvang, the
town where her law practice was
based.
Judge Kuns earned her law degree
from the University of San Diego
School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego. She was a Deputy at
the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office from 1976 until 1979. After that,
she was in private practice, working
with both criminal and civil cases.
She was appointed by the Governor
to fill the vacancy in Santa Maria left
by the retirement of Judge Rodney
Melville. Her first judicial assignment
will be in Lompoc with a criminal
calendar. She is the first woman attorney from the Santa Ynez Valley to
take the bench.
was appointed late last year to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of Judge
Joseph Lodge.
The new Senior Research Attorney
in South County, filling the position
left open by Judge Dandona’s elevation, is Ann Battles. Congratulations
to her on that promotion.
Also sworn in as the other of the
North County’s two new judges
was Judge Jed Beebe, the subject
of a recent interview in this magazine. He was elected last November.
Previously he was Senior Research
Attorney at the Superior Court in
Santa Maria.
The County’s other new judge is, of
course, also a former Senior Research
Attorney — Jean Dandona held that
position in South County until she
42
Judge Kay Kuns’ daughters participate
in her enrobing ceremony in Solvang on
January 5, 2009.
Judge Jed Beebe is sworn-in as family
members and officials look on in Santa
Maria on January 9, 2009.
Photos by: Bryan Walton/Santa
Maria Times.
The Santa Barbara Women
Lawyers is holding a lunchtime
MCLE meeting on February
26, 2009, at the SB College of
Law. The topic is the relationship between crisis and trauma
and the law. The speaker is Dr.
Jamie Rotnofsky, Ph.D., CRC,
QME, CP. Price is $20 (members)
and $30 (non-members). Contact
Lora Brown at (805) 963-3301 or
ldb@hardincoffin.com
In honor of Law Week 2009, the Bar
Foundation will sponsor events from
Monday, April 27 through Saturday,
May 2. Their theme this year is “A
Legacy of Liberty: Celebrating the
Bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln.”
Many of the events will offer MCLE
credit. A calendar of the week’s activities will be publicized in future issues
of this publication. If you, or a legal
organization you belong to, would
be interested in volunteering or
participating in the Bar Foundation’s
events honoring Law Week, contact
David K. Hughes at (805) 962-2566
or dklk@cox.net.
This year mark’s a milestone in our legal community as the Legal Aid Foundation celebrates its 50th year serving our community. Exciting events are
planned for the year. Among the first is the Legal Aid Foundation’s 5th Annual Taste for Justice. It’s happening on March 7, 2009 from 2-6 PM at the
Discovery Museum, 705 McClelland Street , Santa Maria. There will be food,
wine and beer tasting from restaurants, wineries and breweries. The event will
also include a food tasting/chef’s competition dubbed the Gourmet Gavel Awards
Chef’s Competition — You be the Judge! Tickets are $45 in advance, $50 at the door.
Contact Niki Richardson at (805) 963-6754 x109 or nrichardson@lafsbc.org
A final reminder that attorney scorers are needed for the Santa Barbara
High School Mock Trial Competition to be held in the Santa Barbara
County Courthouse on Saturday February 21 and Saturday February 28.
Talented local students will again stand and deliver in this annual event.
Judges McLafferty and Eskin are closely involved in planning it, as are
other judicial officers and practitioners. If you are interested in volunteering,
please contact the ever-dedicated Josefina Martinez at (805) 882-4565 or
jmartinez@sbcourts.org.
Each year, the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation awards grants of
money to law-related organizations and activities to further their good works.
The Spring funding cycle application deadline is April 1, 2009. Interested persons should contact Dean Heather Georgakis at the SB College of Law for
application materials.
At its meeting in December, the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation
Board of Directors elected the following individuals to lead the organization in
2009: John Thyne, President; Brandi Redman, Vice-President; Lora Brown,
Secretary; and Heather Georgakis, Chief Financial Officer. The other directors
of the Foundation are: Marilyn Anticouni, John Derrick, Naomi Dewey,
Renee Fairbanks, Herb Fox, David K. Hughes, Betty Jeppesen, Christine
Kopitzke, Ken Moes, and Catherine Teague.
February 2009
43
TO
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TIMNEW!
RE
2009 Membership Application
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Check here if membership information is the same as last year. If so, the rest of the form may be left blank.
Office Address:_______________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
City: ______________________________________________________ State: _______________ Zip: ______________
E-mail Address:_______________________________________________________________________________________
Phone Number:_____________________________________________
Fax Number: ____________________________
Home Address:_______________________________________________________________________________________
City:______________________________________________________ State: _______________ Zip: ______________
State Bar#: _________________________________________________ Year Admitted to Bar: _____________________
Your member dues include a subscription to Santa Barbara Lawyer.
Schedule of dues for 2009
Active Members
$130
Student Members
$30
New Admittees (First Year Attorneys Only) $00
Affiliate Members (non-Attorney members only)
$65
Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation donation
$_______.__
Total amount enclosed
$_______.__
AREAS OF INTEREST OR PRACTICE (check box as applicable)
ADR
Civil Litig.
Family Law
Debtor/Creditor
Elder Law
In-House Counsel & Corporate Law
Intellectual Property/Tech. Business
Employment Law
Real Property/Land Use
Taxation
Estate Planning/Probate
Mail completed form along with check to:
Santa Barbara County Bar Association, 123 W. Padre St., #E, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Tel: (805) 569-5511
Donations to the Santa Barbara County Bar Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent provided by law
to a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
44
Civic Opportunities
Classifieds
Carlson, continued from page 32
4-year colleges and universities. Students receiving active
mentoring and tutoring have shown discernable improvement in their grades and attitude toward learning. Close
to half of all students who are in the program during the
regular school year also participate in summer enrichment
programs. It continues to serve its purpose through finding
inspiration in the words of its participants:
“Project Excel has helped me throughout the school semester. The people who really helped me are my tutors.
. . . Maggie helped me with English . . . I got to represent
my school at the Math Superbowl.” - Leo A**** (Class of
2014)
“Thank you for all that you have done.” - Joseph L****
(Class of 2012)
“I will be the first one from my family to go to college. . . .
I just want a good education and to help my family. Alma
H**** (Class of 2008)
Project Excel welcomes the participation of attorneys and
members of the local bar in our efforts to have a positive,
sustained impact on our local community. Positions remain
open for mentors and tutors in a variety of subjects. We
also welcome other initiatives: summer internships for our
students at your law firms; presentations at our monthly
meetings regarding civil rights litigation or a career in law;
and pro bono legal work concerning educational equity. Indeed, one of our students initiated the protest against the use
of native icons and imagery at Carpinteria High School.
Project Excel, like any other non-profit enterprise, has
urgent needs for funding for the operation of the program
itself and for student scholarships. We rely on annual grants
and fellowships, both university-and community-based.
Partial funding from UCSB is on a matching-funds basis
with the expectation that Project Excel will become selfsustaining. Therefore, funding-raising ideas, sponsorships
of a student, and donations are very welcome.
For more information about our program, visit us at www.
projectexcelsb.org, call the Project Excel office at (805) 6174588, or attend one of our monthly meetings, where you
can affirm with our students that “My name is Nya B****,
and I am a college-bound student. So is my brother.”
Russell R. Ruiz
Available for hourly contract support work. Commercial
litigation, law & motion, discovery, court appearances, land
use matters. Over 20 years experience in the Santa Barbara
legal community and courts. Please contact Russell R. Ruiz
at: 805 895-5739 and ruizsblaw@cox.net.
Litigation Support
Dynamic experienced civil plaintiff attorney with extensive
litigation and trial experience seeking contract work is
available for litigation support. Eugene D. Locken, D.O.,J.
D., 805-962-0199, drlocken@lockenlaw.com.
Certified Legal Nurse Consultant
Judith Robinson RN, CLNC (certified legal nurse
consultant) available to attend Independent Medical
Exams and provide written reports. Provide expert
review in areas of expertise in long-term care, general
medical-surgical, and home health care. Screen cases
for merit and identify Standards of Care. Develop detailed timelines to point out significant events. Locate
expert witnesses. As a member of the largest legal
nurse consulting association in the world (NACLNC)
I have access to over 6,000 nurses in all specialties.
Ph: 805-736-7713 c: 805-757-2159 Email: registerednurselegal@yahoo.com 100% risk free guarantee.
Julie Carlson is a Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara. She
is the author of England’s First Family of Writers:  Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Mary Shelley (Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2007) and In the Theatre of Romanticism: 
Coleridge, Nationalism, Women (Cambridge University Press,
1994) and numerous articles on the cultural politics and poetics
of British Romanticism.  She is the co-founder and faculty director
of Project Excel.
February 2009
45
February 2009
Calendar
SUNDAY
1
8
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
2
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
17
18
19
20
21
Santa Barbara
Lawyer March
Submission Deadline
15
16
Court Holiday
Presidents Day
SBWL Masquerade
Madness
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Mar. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Kevin McIvers 897-3843
mediate@mciversandslater.com
Bench and Bar Conference 2010
Mack Staton
966-1501
mstaton@mullenlaw.com
William Clinkenbeard 965-0043
wclinkenbeard@bhcrlaw.com
Paul Roberts 963-7403
paroberts@hbsb.com
Bench & Bar Relations
Richard Lee
rlee@rppmh.com
Civil Litigation
John C. Eck eck@g-tlaw.com
Eric A. Woosley ericw@zwlegal.com
Client Relations
Thomas Hinshaw th2@mindspring.com
966-2440
965-5131
897-1830
346-7643
SBCBA 2009
SECTION HEADS
Lol Sorenson lol@rsmediate.com
Nicole Champion nchampion@sbfamlaw.com
Debtor/Creditor
David B. Commons Elder Law
Denise Platt denise@jodymoorelaw.com
Jody Moore
jody@jodymoorelaw.com
Employment Law
Rafael Gonzalez rgonzalez@mullenlaw.com
Estate Planning/Probate
Christopher Jones chrisc@silcom.com
Claude Dorais cdorais@dorais.com
46
963-4110
Family Law
Jennifer Drury drurypullenlaw@cox.net
Vanessa Kirker vkirker@mkfamlaw.com
899-1222
In-House Counsel & Corporate Law
Betty L. Jeppesen 963 -8621
BtJpps@aol.com
649-1389
604-7130
966-1501
963-2014
965-2288
879-7523
965-3405
Intellectual Property/Tech. Business
Christine L. Kopitzke 882-1440
ipcounsel@cox.net
Real Property/Land Use
Marcus Bird msbird@hbsb.com
Bret Stone bstone@paladinlaw.com
Taxation
Peter Muzinich pmuzinich@rogerssheffield.com
Joshua P. Rabinowitz jrabinowitz@fmam.com
963-6711
898-9700
963-9721
963-0755
Tax Audits
Tax Litigation
________________________________________________________________
Law Office of Gregory Arnold
________________________________________________________________
Counsel on 18 U.S. Tax Court Opinions
Ten Years in Private Practice
Former IRS Senior Trial Attorney
Former U.S. Tax Court Clerk
________________________________________________________________
510 Castillo Street, Suite 304
805-560-8200
Arnold@ArnoldTax.com
Representative Cases:
www.ArnoldTax.com
EXPER IENCE
THE
VA L U E
OF
EXPER IENCE
Ken Moes
Now Offering Mediation Services & Litigation Strategy Consultations
kmoes@archbald.com U 805.564.2070
UÊ ÀiÊÌ>ÊvÀÌÞÊÞi>ÀÃÊvÊVÛÊÌÀ>ÊiÝ«iÀiViÊÜÌÊÛiÀÊ£ääÊÕÀÞÊ>`Ê>ÀÊVÕÀÌÊÌÀ>Ã
UÊ Ài>ÃÊvÊi«>ÃÃ\ÊÊ
Ê UÊ
«iÝÊÃ«ÕÌiÃÊ
Ê UÊ*ÀviÃÃ>Ê>LÌÞÊ>ÌÌiÀÃÊ
Ê UÊÃÕÀ>ViÊ,i>Ìi`ÊÃÃÕiÃÊ
Ê UÊÃÌ>ÌiÉ/ÀÕÃÌÊÌ}>Ì
F OR
www.archbald.com
805.564.2070 ext. 111
MOR E INFOR M ATION , V ISIT
OR C A L L
Dyan
AT
505 Bath Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Telephone Ênäx°xÈ{°ÓäÇäÊÊUÊÊFacsimile 805.564.2081
Professional Services Since 1960
AS_SBLawyer_HalfH.indd 1
www.archbald.com
February 2009
47
9/8/08 10:19:30 AM
Prsrt Std
U.S. Postage Paid
Santa Barbara, CA
The Santa Barbara County Bar Association
123 W. Padre Street, #E
Permit #734
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48

Santa Barbara Lawyer - Santa Barbara County Bar Association

Transcription

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