U.S. Supreme Court

California Supreme Court Upholds Cities' Right to Ban Pot Clubs

Note to states considering medical marijuana measures: Don't forget to include a statute forcing cities and counties to enact zoning laws that will allow storefront dispensaries to operate. Without something like that, your clubs are going to get shut down. In a ruling issued this morning, the Cal ... More >>

Dirty Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona Loses Bid For Prison Sentence Reduction

Two years into his 66-month prison sentence, ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona hoped this week that a federal judge would reduce his punishment in the aftermath of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving bribery and honest service corruption cases.But today inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Cou ... More >>

Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Irvine Law School Dean, Talks Gay Marriage with Jon Gruden?

As the U.S. Supreme Court holds a session on gay marriage for the second straight day, everyone is weighing in on the controversial issue, even those who regularly foist onto the public phony news.And at least one fake newsie has once again latched onto a local muse, Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of t ... More >>

Candlelight Vigil for Marriage Equality Tomorrow in Santa Ana

Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the legal challenge to California's Proposition 8. But instead of taking the rallying, angry, and sign-pumping approach to fighting for gay marriage--although that's perfectly legit as well!--equality warriors in Orange County have decided to hold a candle ... More >>

Virginia's Anti-Sodomy Law Ruled Invalid--with an Assist from UC Irvine's Erwin Chemerinsky

Virginia's anti-sodomy law has been struck down, due in part to an assist from the dean of UC Irvine's School of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky.The decision came in a case involving sex between an adult male and a 17-year-old girl, which the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed shoul ... More >>

Andrew Thomas Gallo, Drunk Driver Convicted of Killing Angels Phenom Nick Adenhart and 2 Others, Gets No State Supreme Court Relief

It's another swing and a miss for Andrew Thomas Gallo as the California Supreme Court denied the San Gabriel man's pitch for a review of his conviction on triple-homicide, drunken-driving and hit-and-run charges for the 2009 Fullerton crash that took the life of rising Anaheim Angels star Nick Adenh ... More >>

Erwin Chemerinsky and Rick Hasen of UCI Law Weigh in Far and Wide on Voting Rights Act

Something more supremely has overshadowed the news that UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky has been named a new endowed chair in First Amendment Law through a $1.5 million gift from Raymond Pryke, owner and publisher of the Valleywide Newspapers chain based in Hesperia. Chemerinsky and ... More >>

UCI's First Law School Class Has a Better Cali Bar Exam Passage Rate Than All But Stanford

The end of our October blog post on University of California at Irvine School of Law students helping Nigerian activists present a case to the U.S. Supreme Court mentioned that the local school has its critics.The blasts to the law school and its founding dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, began in 2009, but ... More >>

UCI Law School Professor and Students Fight for Nigerian Activists in U.S. Supreme Court

When the U.S. Supreme Court opened what's billed to be a contentious new term Monday, UC Irvine School of Law students were there.But the future legal eagles were not in Washington, D.C., to observe the proceedings as bystanders but to help one of their professors argue a case before the Supremes.

UC President Says Ban On Affirmative Action Has Had A 'Dramatic Adverse Effect' On Campuses, Argues For Race-Based Admissions

Before the U.S. Supreme Court hears another case on college affirmative action, this time centering on the University of Texas at Austin, leaders from the University of California want to make it known that banning race-based admissions has not been good for diversity on UC campuses.UC President Mar ... More >>

Richard Nixon Reacts to Obamacare Ruling

When something big breaks in the news--take an eagerly awaited U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, puhleeeez--it's not unusual for newspapers to be bombarded with emails reacting to the same, from all sides.Since it says "newspaper" on the business license, OC Weekly is not immune to folks fishi ... More >>

[UPDATED with Loretta Sanchez: "This is a Victory":] Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Paper Check Provision But Tosses Other Parts of SB 1070

See update at the end of the post with reaction to the Supreme Court ruling by Rep. Loretta Sanchez:ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 25, 8:35 A.M.: The U.S. Supreme Court this morning rejected nearly all of Arizona's controversial immigration law yet upheld SB 1070's most controversial provision: the one requiri ... More >>

Welcome Back, Jim Crow

[Crossing the Line] New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall

Our Hands to Mexicans, Our Fists to Crackers

Crossing the Line: A Village Voice Media Special Report

Bordering On Revolution

[Crossing the Line] A hostile Supreme Court. A feckless Obama administration. America's war on Mexicans has gone too far

Arizona Senate Bill 1070's Days of Rage

[Crossing the Line] The U.S. Supreme Court and President Barack Obama leave the undocumented and their allies no choice but to escalate civil disobedience

Immigration Makes Us Safer, Richer and Better Able to Breathe: UCI Study

Well here's a timely UC Irvine study in light of today's Weekly cover package: The Southern California Regional Progress Report to be released next week shows the large influx of Asian and Latino immigrants into Southern California in the past 50 years has led to less crime, lower joblessness and ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Review Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's Corruption Conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused a request by Mike Carona, Orange County's onetime mighty sheriff turned federal-prison inmate, to review and possibly overturn his January 2009 corruption conviction.The high court's April 30 decision essentially leaves Carona in his federal-prison cell in Colorado ... More >>

American Civil Liberties Union Caravan Blasting Immigration Laws Coming to Santa Ana

The American Civil Liberties Union caravan stopping in Santa Ana at high noon Monday to draw attention to the damage done by immigration laws like Arizona's is sure to include a hippie van with stickers all over it. Only some messages will be in Spanglish, and Jerry Garcia's Dead head will be replac ... More >>

Bush-Appointed Federal Judge Tosses Out Defense of Marriage Act

​During the five months when gay marriage was legal in California in 2008, Karen Golinski, a staff attorney for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals--the most liberal court in America--married her long-time girlfriend, Amy Cunninghis, and attempted to enroll Cunninghis in her federal medical insuran ... More >>

Let Them Eat (a Gay Wedding) Cake: Gay Activists Get Their Valentine's Day on at Orange County Courthouse

​Linda May said it took her a long time to bake the "domestic partnership" cake she displayed Tuesday outside the Orange County Courthouse at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. in downtown Santa Ana.She said the cake is symbolic of the gay community's efforts to overturn laws against same-sex marriage. " ... More >>

5 Most Important Video Game-Related News Stories of 2011

​2011 has come and gone, and the year that seemingly slipped right past us was full of major events--some of which may very change the landscape of the video gaming industry forever. Everything from new a new Nintendo console to the death of a computer pioneer was all crammed into the previous yea ... More >>

Quick Ruling for Gay Marriage in California Expected Despite Today's Prop 8 Ruling

​The California Supreme Court ruled today that gay marriage foes can fight the reversal of Prop 8.Because the offices of the governor and state attorney general refuse to defend the same-sex marriage ban, legal scholars such as UC Irvine School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky had opined that Prop 8 ... More >>

Dream Team Assembled at UCI Law School Squeezes Boring Right Out of 2010-11 U.S. Supreme Court Term

​For the UC Irvine School of Law's first-ever Supreme Court Review Wednesday, the assembled panel was saddled with a reportedly "boring" 2010-2011 term. Fortunately, the legal all-stars who enlightened about 170 lunching students, lawyers and professors on campus (and an equal number watching the ... More >>

[UPDATED with NMA Video:] Supreme Court Overturns State Ban on Sales and Rentals of Violent Video Games to Kids

NMA.TV​UPDATE, JUNE 28, 2:50 P.M.: Next Media Animation, the largest full-service animation studio in Asia and subsidiary of Hong Kong's largest publicly listed print media company, is getting faster at turning around animated video on news stories around the world.Take Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ... More >>

Move Over, Orly Taitz: Supreme Court Ignores Another Obama Birther

"Barry speaking . . ."​The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected without comment a requested rehearing on a previously tossed out case alleging Barack Obama is not eligible to be the U.S. president.This one was not filed by Laguna Niguel lawyer/dentist/birther/nutbar/real-estate saleswoman Orly Taitz ... More >>

Supreme Court Rules for Reverend Fred Phelps' 'God Hates Fags' Picketing Outside Military Funerals

​The Reverend Fred Phelps' God-Hates-Faggetry that plays out outside military funerals, political conventions and Rent productions at Corona del Mar High School won U.S. Supreme Court protection this morning.Justices voted 8-1 to uphold an appeals-court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Tosses Orly Taitz's Latest Crazy Appeal Tied to Barack Obama's Citizenship

​So, after having her latest appeal rejected this morning by the U.S. Supreme Court, where is Laguna Niguel birther/dentist/lawyer Orly Taitz to turn next? The Hague? Judge Judy? The Trill Symbiosis Commission?The Supremes did not utter a peep while tossing the appeal contesting a $20,000 fine lev ... More >>

The U.S. Supreme Court Battle for Free Speech in Video Games: How This Will Affect You

Flickr user SomeGeekinTN​This past Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme court convened in order to hear arguments for the case of Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchant Association/Entertainment Software Association (EMA/ESA). Here, the court will decide whether to overturn the decisions made by the Ninth ... More >>

Erwin Chemerinsky, UCI Law School Dean, Writes of Conservative War Against Constitution

​The Conservative Assault on the Constitution (Simon & Schuster, $27) argues that beginning with Richard Nixon and continuing through to George W. Bush, conservative presidents and their supporters have tried to change basic constitutional principles through their policies and appointments ... More >>

Cal State Fullerton Grad Student Grad Finds Missing Link Between Alex Bernal Housing Covenant Case and the Supreme Court

Courtesy of the Bernal familiaThe pioneering Bernals of Fullerton​It was a pleasure earlier this summer to report on the story of Alex Bernal, the longtime Fullerton resident who successfully fought off a lawsuit filed by racist white neighbors in 1943 that wanted him out of their neighborhood sol ... More >>

White House Video Causes Orly Taitz to Try for Leniency at Supreme Court Once More

John Gilhooley / OC Weekly​Laguna Niguel birther/dentist/lawyer Orly Taitz's newest filing at the Supreme Court of the United States is a "MOTION FOR RECONSIFERATION." (Yes, [sic]) At least, that's how the title starts. Then you get this... "OF THE APPLICATION FOR EMERGENCY STAY AND/OR INJU ... More >>

First a Victory, Now a War

Same-sex marriage supporters and detractors react to Proposition 8 ruling, what happens next

Orly Taitz Wants to Verify Clarence Thomas's Signature

​Ever notice that the biggest conspiracy theorists are also the biggest skeptics? Laguna Niguel's birther leader Orly Taitz's application to the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify $20,000 in penalties levied upon her by a federal judge, was denied last week. Some people might have simply accepted s ... More >>

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Is Sotomayor the Right Shade of Brown for the Mexican?

Meet Orly Taitz, Queen Bee of People Obsessed With Barack Obama's Birth Certificate

Andrea Lafferty: Still Going Wrong

The froth foaming out of the mouth of Andrea Lafferty, spewing hate about her opposition to an anti-hate bill in Congress, had not even hit the D.C. sidewalk when events forced her to switch topics to President Barack Obama's unannounced replacement for retiring U.S. Supreme Court justice David Sout ... More >>

Buena Park Pastor Wiley Drake Believes He Still Has a Prayer of Unseating Barack Obama

Web Exclusive Extended Play Edition!

Ask a Mexican Wins Same Award As Brad Pitt!

Buried deep in the pages of something called the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer was an Associated Press dispatch revealing that your favorite wab is amongst the winners of this year's Civies, an award given out by the Americans for More Civility, a group of exactly two people. In announcing my honor, th ... More >>

Parsing Sentences (Penal edition)

In a nice bit of timing, on Friday the Times featured Todd Spitzer's rejection of an attempt to rationalize California's criminal sentencing process and take politics out of it, and today the U.S. Supreme Court declared the state's Determinate Sentencing Law unconstitutional. The Associated Press r ... More >>

Think for Yourselves, Young Folks, so Long as You Think Like Me

You know what's funny? We ask our young adults to throw themselves into the youth versions of established adult institutions—your governmental bodies, your newspapers, etc.—but when the kids dare express dissent or themselves in a way that rubs the ruling class the wrong way, the adult o ... More >>

Hughcifer Unhinged

When it came to this election, Hugh Hewitt, our favorite unintentional radio comedian, fought a long, hard battle against reality. One expects no less from him. He took extraordinary measures to blind and deafen himself, even engaged in a little body-snatching from the Democratic political graveya ... More >>

Letters

'The place is going to be crawling with pretentious OC foodophiles and my nice quiet Wednesday evenings will be no more. Damn you, Matt Coker, DAMN YOU!!!!!'

A Bad Day for Bush, and maybe waterboarding

The Supreme Court today ruled the Bush administration must do one of those things it is always extremely reluctant to do: obey the law. By a vote of 5-3, the Supremes said the administration can't proceed with its plans to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay before military tribunals. Writing for the m ... More >>

Love That Dirty Water

Troubling news from American Rivers, the 75,000-member strong nonprofit that is trying to save and restore our nation's rivers: The Supreme Court of the United States today handed down a divided decision in the Rapanos and Carabell cases that will lead to confusion on the ground and grave risk for t ... More >>

Diary of a Mad County

After This, Tomatoes

In a better world, Dr. Philip A. Denney wouldnt have to dedicate his practice to pot

Persecution of a freedom fighter

My day in the park with Michael Lavery

Check Out

OC hotels stop labor organizing by asking employees one question: Are you here legally?

The Year in Rebuke