Michael Carroll News
City of L.A. accused of 'thinly veiled racism' in lawsuit over Venice low-income housing project
Low-income housing advocates are suing the city of Los Angeles and City Council for allegedly obstructing the construction of a 140-unit project in Venice that plaintiffs say is needed to house chronically homeless people in the coastal community.
Home Depot agrees to settle L.A. district attorney's lawsuit over its gift cards
Home Depot has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a civil lawsuit filed by several California district attorneys over violations of a California consumer law requiring the redemption of company gift cards with balances of less than $10.
Alhambra family-law lawyer acknowledges misappropriating nearly $5 million in client funds
An Alhambra attorney has acknowledged in a court filing that she misappropriated nearly $5 million in client funds, falsified bank records and failed to disclose a 2023 court judgment against her to the State Bar of California.
GOP states: California climate-change lawsuit will jack up energy costs, threatens America's 'basic way of life'
Attorneys general from 19 Republican-led states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block California and other Democrat-dominated states from using lawsuits against oil and gas companies to essentially sidestep the federal process and set nationwide energy and climate policies
TV anchor sues L.A. CBS stations, arguing he was fired because he was white and older
A former anchor at KCBS and KCAL television stations has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against CBS, alleging that he was illegally fired from his position because he was an “older, white, heterosexual male.”
Second Amendment rights advocates sue to block California's new excise tax on firearms, ammo
Several Second Amendment groups and individual gun owners have filed a lawsuit challenging a new California law imposing an 11% excise tax on firearms and ammunition as an unconstitutional assault on individual rights.
'Shaken baby syndrome' now seen as 'junk science' that led to false convictions
A New Jersey appeals court last year declared a that a decades-old medical diagnosis often linked to child abuse, shaken baby syndrome, amounts to junk science – a position supported by the executive director of the the San Diego-based Innocence Center.
Disbarred California attorney guilty of promoting $9.5 million cryptocurrency scheme
A disbarred Southern California attorney has pleaded guilty to inducing people to take part in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme involving artificial-intelligence trading bots – a plot that led to investors being defrauded out of $9.5 million.
California oil industry pulls fall initiative to counter well restrictions, plans court challenge
California’s oil industry has shifted its game plan to overturn a new state law banning new oil and gas wells near homes and schools, opting not to put an initiative on the fall ballot but instead pursuing a path to challenge the law in court.
USC accused of using 'junk science' in determining kidney transplant wait times
The University of Southern California and a nonprofit overseeing organ procurement in the U.S. endangered the lives of Black Americans with kidney disease by using race-based junk science to calculate organ-transplant wait times, a lawsuit alleges.
Business groups express relief as Newsom signs PAGA reforms into law
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed newly passed legislation that aims to reform the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which business groups have long criticized as a vehicle for rampant lawsuit abuse that offers little in the way of worker protections.
L.A. trial attorney faces charges of attempting to hack into judge's email account
The California State Bar has accused a Los Angeles-area attorney of attempting to recruit Israeli hackers to steal personal emails and text messages belonging to a local judge and a California consumer lawyer. A lawyer for the accused attorney calls the accusations "absurd" and baseless.
State's high court to decide if Coastal Commission can unilaterally overrule local agencies' land-use permits
The California Supreme Court earlier this month agreed to hear a case that will determine the scope of the state Coastal Commission’s authority to unilaterally overturn local agencies’ housing development approvals.
City of L.A. to pay $300,000 to cover journalist's attorney fees to resolve public records litigation
Los Angeles has tentatively agreed to pay a local journalist $300,000 to cover his legal costs and settle a lawsuit brought by the city attorney that sought to retrieve police officer photos and data released as a result of a public records request.
CA lawmakers rushing to pass legislation to codify PAGA reform deal, forestall risk of full PAGA repeal at ballot box
State lawmakers are now on a tight timeline to pass legislation to codify a new agreement worked out by Gov. Gavin Newsom, business groups and labor leaders that reforms the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) in a way that reduces one of the biggest tools for lawsuit abuse in the state
Courts taking a more critical look at local traffic impact studies viewed as flawed science
Traffic impact studies that underpin land-use policies in California are akin to junk science, overstate resulting vehicle traffic patterns and consistently drive up the price of housing in a state where homelessness is a potent political issue.
New California law heightens scrutiny of junk science, flawed testimony in criminal convictions
A California law that took effect last year is encouraging prosecutors, attorneys and judges to better scrutinize potentially flawed or outdated science and disputed expert testimony to avoid wrongful incarcerations, according to the law’s supporters.
Bonta files lawsuit seeking big payout from oil companies over 'climate change;' Lawsuit driven by left-wing politics, oil companies say
California has filed an amended lawsuit against major oil companies, calling on a state court to strip the companies of profits gleaned through decades of supposedly “false and misleading” marketing claims that have allegedly misled the public about climate-change risks from the common fuels that drive the U.S. economy
Malibu petitions FAA to reconsider noise impacts of new LAX flight paths
The city of Malibu has petitioned a federal appeals court to rethink a Federal Aviation Administration decision adding new flight paths in and out of Los Angeles International Airport that the city says has increased noise pollution for local residents.
California taking a lead role in movement to reject 'excited delirium' from testimony, legal proceedings in police force cases
Civil rights attorneys applauded California’s decision to ban the diagnosis of “excited delirium” – often defined as a drug-induced behavioral state characterized by agitation, aggression and elevated strength – from official proceedings in lawsuits accusing police of excessive force. Police say the change makes officers less safe.