•AB
27, by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco,
which would expedite the process by which a county's costs are reimbursed
after venue of a homicide trial has been transferred to that county.
The bill was referred to the Committee on Local Government Jan. 6.
•AB
108, by Assemblyman Guy S. Houston, R-Walnut Creek,
which would require an advertisement by a lawyer or law firm that
urges a person or entity to take an action that may lead to the filing
of a claim for residential construction deficiencies to disclose specified
information, including the availability of alternative dispute resolution.
A hearing on the bill was cancelled this month, at the author's request,
but has been reset for April 12.
•AB
176, by Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk, which
would clarify the status of certain workers hired as temporary trial
court employees by providing that any such employee will be reclassified
as permanent after 180 days of employment. The bill was heard by the
Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security on March
16.
•AB
182, by Assemblyman John J. Benoit, R-Riverside,
which would make a technical change in the form of a search warrant.
The bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee by a vote of
7-0 March 1 and was placed on the consent calendar for a vote March
7.
•AB
192, by Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa, which
would limit public entity tort liability to $250,000 per person or
$500,000 per occurrence, and would provide that the applicability
of design immunity is a question of law rather than of fact. The bill
was referred to the Judiciary Committee Feb. 3 and is scheduled for
a hearing March 8.
•AB
202, by Assemblyman Tom Harman, R-Huntington Beach,
which would specify that the filing of a petition under the California
Arbitration Law is the exclusive means by which an agreement to arbitrate
may be enforced. The bill was heard by the Judiciary Committee March
15.
•AB
220, by the Committee on Public Safety, which would
change the name of the "battered woman syndrome" defense
to "intimate partner battering." The bill passed the Committee
on Public Safety by a vote of 6-0 March 15 and was to be the subject
of a Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, but the hearing was postponed.
•AB
262, by Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, which
would provide that the Judicial Council may not require that a structure
proposed for transfer from a county to the state for court occupancy
meet a building code standard stricter than the standard adopted for
county buildings in the county proposing the transfer. The bill has
been scheduled for a Judiciary Committee hearing April 5.
•AB
557, by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach,
which would permit the issuance of a criminal complaint upon the testimony
of an honorably retired peace officer. The bill has been scheduled
for a Public Safety Committee hearing April 5.
•AB
1322, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa,
which would amend the requirement that a judge who has had discussions
with an ADR provider regarding potential employment recuse himself
or herself, absent waiver, from matters involving the possible appointment
of an ADR neutral. The bill would provide that this is only grounds
for disqualification if the discussions were "more than casual."
The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee March 10 and is scheduled
for hearing April 5
•AB
1528, by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento,
which would overrule the holding in +Action Apartment Assn., Inc.
v. City of Santa Monica+ (2004) 123 Cal. App. 4th 47 by holding that
certain communications by landlords to tenants are not protected by
the litigation privilege. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee
March 14.
•AB
1529, by Jones, which would make permanent the
State Bar's authority to impose annual membership dues, increase the
assessment for the Client Security Fund by $5, substantially increase
dues for inactive members, and require members with income of more
than $40,000 annually from all sources to pay the full amount of dues
even if none of that income was derived from the practice of law.
The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee March 14.
•SB
16, by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, which makes
permanent changes in criminal statutes of limitations that were made
following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that precludes revival of time-barred
causes of action. The bill was signed by the governor and took effect
as an urgency measure March 1.
•SB
111, by Alquist, which would permit prosecution
of sex crimes against minors at any time prior to the victim's 30th
birthday, replacing the current 10-year statute of limitations as
well as the law permitting otherwise time-barred prosecutions to be
brought, in some circumstances, up to one year after a police report
is filed. A hearing was to be held by the Committee on Public Safety
on Tuesday but was cancelled at the request of the author.
•SB
151, by Sen. Nell Soto, D-Ontario, which would
make attempts to corruptly influence judicial officers punishable
under Penal Code Sec. 95. The statute currently makes it a felony
to use corrupt means, including bribery, threat, intimidation, and
unauthorized communication, to influence a juror, arbitrator or referee,
but not a judicial officer. The bill is set to be heard by the Committee
on Public Safety April 5.
•SB
232, by Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, which would
extend to an unspecified date the July 1, 2006 sunset provision of
legislation establishing the Court Reporters Board. The bill was referred
to the Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development
March 1.
•SB
252, by Sen Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, which would
prohibit the payment of money or anything of value by a party to a
proceeding to any person who served as a juror if the payment is related
to that person's jury service. The bill was heard by the Committee
on Public Safety on Tuesday.
•SB
265, by Sen. John Campbell, R-Costa
Mesa, which would limit the number of annual holidays observed by
state employees to 12 and encourage the judiciary, which currently
observes 13 holidays each year, to follow suit. The bill was heard
Tuesday by the Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social
Security, amended by the author, and re-referred to the committee,
with another hearing scheduled for April 11.
•SB
442, by Sen. Joseph Simitian, D-Pittsburg, which
would increase the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court
from $5,000 to $10,000 in most cases, was to be heard by the Judiciary
Committee March 17, but the hearing was postponed.
•SB
528, by Ackerman, which would declare the Legislature's
intent to evaluate the impact of trial court unification on the judges'
retirement systems and the resulting increase in the judges' age at
the start of their judicial service. The bill was referred to the
Rules Committee March 3.
•SB
529, by Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside,
which would make a technical change with respect to the attorney-client
privilege. The bill was referred to the Rules Committee March 3.
•SB
815, by Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento,
which would make a technical change with respect to service by publication.
The bill was referred to the Rules Committee March 10.
