In Grossman v. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, published March 25, 2019, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 7 affirmed summary judgment granted to the defendant school district. The school district permitted a school booster group and the PTA to hold a carnival fundraiser on a school's grounds. During the carnival, an inflatable slide partially…
In Herrera v. City of Palmdale, published March 20, 2019, the 9th Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court order dismissing declaratory and injunctive relief claims and staying damages claims in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit. The city obtained an inspection warrant of the plaintiffs' motel to search for suspected code…
In Sandoval v. City of Santa Rosa, published December 21, 2018, the 9th Circuit affirmed a district court's summary judgment rulings for plaintiffs and defendants in a case brought by two drivers whose vehicles were impounded by a defendant city or defendant county because the drivers had current or expired Mexican driver's licenses (and passengers with…
In Black v. City of Palos Verdes, published September 6, 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 1 affirmed the trial court's decision denying a petition for a writ of mandate and finding that the defendant city's moratorium on construction in a landslide area was not a regulatory taking. The city had areas where ancient…
In Shahbazian v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes, published November 22, 2017, the Second District Court of Appeal, Div. 7 affirmed a trial court's denial of the defendant city's special motion to strike under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, the anti-SLAPP statute. The plaintiffs sued the city over the city's decision to issue permits permitting…
In The Kennedy Commission v. City of Huntington Beach, published October 31, 2017, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2 reversed a trial court writ striking down the respondent city's amendment to its specific housing plan as void ab initio because it was inconsistent with the city's general plan. Government Code section 65454, which requires…
In Contest Promotions v. San Francisco, amended October 23, 2017, the 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 challenge to the constitutionality of a city's billboard ordinance. The city's planning code differentiated between general signs (which direct attention to business that takes place elsewhere than on the premises where the…
In Lynch v. California Coastal Commission, published July 6, 2017, the California Supreme Court affirmed a lower appellate court decision reversing an administrative mandamus writ issued by a trial court. The plaintiff homeowners sought a permit from the California Coastal Commission permitting them to build a seawall to protect their blufftop properties, replacing a damaged seawall,…
In SJJC Aviation Services v. City of San Jose, ordered published June 20, 2017, the 6th District Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal on demurrer of a trial court writ petition challenging the award of a lease for airport facilities. The defendant city issued a Request for Proposal that described the elements required for proposals. The…
In Real v. City of Long Beach, published March 29, 2017, the 9th Circuit reversed a judgment against a plaintiff who brought a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action challenging the defendant city's tattoo parlor zoning ordinances as violating the First Amendment. The ordinances disallow tattoo shops in most of the City, require a conditional use…