Michael Carroll News
California church's legal counsel: Covid-era citations worth $67K for alleged health violations were 'government overreach'
Covid-related citations issued by a California agency against a San Jose church and Christian school were the product of an invalid search warrant, an administrative appeals board decided. The church and school's lawyers said the citations were targeted violations of religious freedom
Anti-fluoride plaintiffs: Water fluoridation 'an unreasonable risk to developing brain'
Two environmental groups that oppose the addition of fluoride to drinking water are waiting for a federal judge in California to decide if there’s a significant risk that fluoride has harmful effects on the brains of children.
Judicial discipline panel: L.A. judge's remarks to litigants were 'disparaging, gratuitous'
The state’s Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for engaging in a pattern of making “discourteous, disparaging and gratuitous” remarks to litigants, creating the appearance of bias.
Plaintiffs' attorney: California law enables 'right to keep secrets from parents'
Despite a federal court challenge, the California Attorney General’s Office is standing behind a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this month that bars school districts from informing parents about their children’s requests for changes in names or pronouns.
Los Angeles street vendors settle lawsuit with city over 'discriminatory' sidewalk vending regulations
Street vendors and several community groups have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles that challenged restrictions on vendors around the city as violations of state law.
State Bar: Former Los Angeles DWP official engaged in 'dishonesty, corruption'
The California State Bar is accusing a former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power commissioner of violations of attorney ethics for allegedly engaging in a quid pro quo deal leading up to a vote on a city contract.
Judge on paraquat pesticide multi-district lawsuit: plaintiff witness's methodology equates to 'cooking the books'
A California lawmaker is pressing to ban the pesticide paraquat despite a federal judge’s recent conclusion in several civil lawsuits that expert witness testimony had failed to prove the chemical causes Parkinson’s disease.
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.