Is the system broke?

If this doesn't convince you the system isn't working, I think you had too much to eat today.
A monster kills two police officers in 1982 and was found guilty in 1984. The article says he was sent to San Quintin which probably means he was sentenced to die for his crime. In 2005 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal held that the monster had ineffective assistance of counsel. Over twenty years later!!!! The court ordered a new trial. That's just the RivCo citizens need. The court of appeal admits that the evidence was such that there was no question he killed the officers, yet now one court room needed to relieve the backlog will be taken up for a month to hear this guys' retrial. Nice.

Justice delayed, continued

The PE reports today that justice is not being served in RivCo. The numbers are truly staggering. There are 2,100 pending felony cases. The eight civil courts in western RivCo have on average 1665 cases while the three desert courts have an average of 1,464 cases each. The 2100 criminal cases have priority over all civil cases. Within the article the DA admits it wants family law judges to hear criminal cases as well. The article carefully demonstrates the hardships these delays cause the parties. Yet, the DA seems unmoved by the delays in the civil justice system.

Interestingly, the article also answers an earlier post about an appeal brought by a group of homeowners requesting the court of appeal order their five year old case to trial. Apparently, the court of appeal denied the appeal. Accordingly, it looks like the delay will continue until either RivCo gets more judges or the DA starts dealing with the criminal defendants.

More Zoning part 3

A 75 year conservation plan for the Coachella Valley was recently approved. The plan sets aside 240,000 acres in the Coachella Valley to be paid for ( $526 million) by developer fees, landfill fees, and what the PE reports as eligible state and federal funds. Supposedly, the land is to be purchased over 30 years from sellers at fair market value. To get an idea of how large 240,000 acres is the PE states it is equivalent to 15 cities of the size of Palm Desert. Despite monopolizing a tremendous amount of land the article indicates that this plan will facilitate more development in the area because the governing agencies will be able to issue more permits on less sensitive areas.

Development in the DA induced civil court logjam

As the readers of the IELB know, I have been very distressed by the lack of civil trials in our fair county. Indeed, I have not shied from appointing blame for the virtual shutdown of the civil justice on the District Attorney's Office. I am not alone in believing that the current system cannot continue. The PE reports that the plaintiffs in a construction defect lawsuit petitioned the local court of appeal for relief from the backlog. The California Code of Civil Procedure requires that civil actions proceed to trial within five years of the date of filing. The plaintiffs' lawsuit was originally filed over 2002. They did not get at trial within the statutorily allowed period of time.

It will be very interesting to see how the Court of Appeal responds. The current situation simply cannot continue. Each and every plaintiff with an outstanding case is simply being deprived of justice by the current backlog. The article concludes by stating that Riverside County should have 133 judges but only has 76 judges. There is no question but that this is true. However, this shortage of judgeships predated the start of current District Attorney Ron Pacheco's tenure. It is plain that the district attorney's policies (discussed ad nauseum previously) are the cause of the backlog.

More Zoning

Zoning appears to be the subject of the hour. In this article in the PE we learn how the city of Moreno Valley is attempting to exclude churches from residential and industrial areas. In the post below on Zoning your faithful correspondent attempted to demonstrate how zoning keeps citizens from maximizing the cash potential of their property. Here, the city of Moreno Valley is attempting to limit where can conduct your spiritual practices. I suppose the question is twofold: First, whether you would want 100 churchgoers descending upon your neighbor's home every week. Second, whether people should have the option to invite over friends and family for a weekly devotional? Alas, this is where the law steps in. This article shows lawmaking and how its responsive to the community's needs.

Corruption?

The PE reports that recently elected Riverside Unified School District Board member Tom Hunt received $10,000 in campaign contributions from the local teachers union. He says that he will listen to the teachers but not represent their interests exclusively. Riiiiiiiiggggghhhhht.

Former Colton police chief sues city

Former Colton police chief Kenneth Rulon sued the city of Colton for wrongful termination, defamation, retaliation, and emotional distress. He seeks $10 million. Rulon held the job for nearly 4 years and is 43 years old. See this article for more information. The IE LB's purpose is to point out interesting items of the law in our fair Inland Empire. It used to be that if you're Boss was a jerk or if you were treated unfairly you took your lumps and accepted the harsh reality of life. Now, if you are treated unfairly you sue. In this case, Rulon is suing the city of Colton. But who exactly is the city of Colton? It is 47,000 taxpayers. Rulon wants these citizens to pay him $10 million.

Most cities in California are dependent for revenue on sales tax. The vast majority of the sales tax go to the state and counties but the city in which the sale transaction took place does get a small cut of the sales tax. The reality is that cities are typically starved for revenue. Yet Mr. Rulon, because he feels he was treated unfairly, wants the city to either cut services or raise taxes to compensate him for the mistreatment. Assuming for the sake of argument that Mr. Rulon was treated unfairly what is the law to do? Deprive him of a legal remedy? The citizens of this state have decided that Mr. Rulon will have his day in court. The jury will decide if Mr. Rulon's rights were violated and if so how much will he get. If the jury awards Mr. Rulon money it will be Colton's citizens who are deprived of services or their hard-earned money. As such, it will have been the citizens of the state who created the law on which the lawsuit was brought and it will have been the jury of San Bernardino County citizens who gave Mr. Rulon the award. although the vast majority of Colton citizens had nothing to do with Mr. Rulon's mistreatment, they will ultimately be the ones who have to pay for the mistreatment.

A final thought on this is that the city of Colton's attorney is probably going to bill somewhere north of $100,000 for the city's defense.

Zoning

As part of the IE LB's ongoing commitment to covering all aspects of the law, we would like to point out an article which was probably widely ignored by readers of the PE. Like most other counties, it regulates what people and entities can do with their property. In other words, you as a free United States citizen are limited as to what you can do with your land. If, say, you own a property zoned for agriculture, you would not without a change in zoning the allowed to build a manufacturing facility. The article correctly states that the property owner a request the change in zoning but that "not all requests are likely to be approved." Accordingly, the property owner may be unable to use his property in a way that maximizes its value.

Most people do not give a second thought to this encumbrance on the free market. Zoning is the rule among municipalities not the exception. Houston is a noteworthy example of a municipality without zoning laws. However, the vast majority of cities and counties to provide for zoning. Your faithful correspondent has never been to Houston and cannot therefore attest to the benefits of freedom from zoning.

Indirect potable reuse?

The Lake Arrowhead Community Services District recently proposed using treated wastewater to replenish Lake Arrowhead. the agency proposes adding 1.5 million gallons per day of treated wastewater to the lake. The agency claims that the treated water would meet or exceed all drinking water standards. For an article on the topic go here.

Something tells me that this will never fly for the bluebloods living up the hill.