Northern District of California in the News

Here is what some people are writing about the Northern District of California outside of this blog.


Philippine Headline News reports that the children of slain publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer have sued former Philippine President Joseph Estrada and others for his death under the Alien Tort Statute.  The Case is Dacer v. Estrada No. C. 10-4165.

Marketwatch reports that the law firm of Strauss & Troy has initiated a class action shareholder derivative action against SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for making misleading statements to shareholders. As this blog has noted before, these kinds of cases are very difficult to prove.

The Informant reports that Judge Thelton Henderson may expand the judicial oversight of the Oakland Police Department.  A massive class action civil rights lawsuit lead to a Negotiated Settlement Agreement in 2003 where the OPD would have to make certain reforms.  Nearly eight years later, not much has happened.  The informant reports, "Henderson has ordered weekly progress reports from the monitors and threatening monetary sanctions, contempt proceedings and extended court oversight if OPD does not come into compliance by January 2011 – a scenario Henderson called 'highly unlikely.'"

Bloomberg is following Perry v. Schwarzenegger, which held that the California State Constitution's prohibition on gay marriage is unconstitutional.  Jerry Brown, as attorney general, refused to defend the provision at trial stating he believed it was unconstitutional and subsequently refused to defend it on appeal.  Now the group who sought the amendment would like to defend it on appeal.  However, it is not clear how they have an interest in the case.  In their brief today they clarified that issue:

The proponents of Proposition 8 addressed the issue of “standing” by claiming they are acting as agents of California’s residents, and as such are legally permitted to “assert the state’s interest” and to “defend the constitutionality of an initiative they have successfully sponsored.”

That sounds a lot like citizen standing, which is tough to prove. See Schlesinger v. Reservists Comm. to Stop the War (U.S. 1964) ("there is no citizen standing").