There’s a water fight brewing on the Kern River. The State Water Resources Control Board’s handling of the conflict will be telling for the future of California’s streams and rivers.
If the water board takes seriously its duty to protect the public interest, this conflict could lead to better water management statewide.
In 2021 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remained -- save only the U.S. Supreme Court -- the most important court in the United States when it comes to environmental law. This year the 9th Circuit also maintained its role as the most prodigious source of key environmental decisions of any federal appellate court -- issuing nearly one per week.
With apologies for any perceived sins of omission, here's my chronological list of the 9th Circuit's 10 most important environmental law decisions of 2021:
On episode 59 of the podcast formerly known as What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law, renamed What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law: Supreme Court cases from Mississippi and Texas are challenging long upheld precedents that established abortion rights. Reproductive rights, and many others, are not explicitly referenced in the Constitution, but are considered fundamental because of the presence of the word "liberty" in the 14th Amendment. Listen to the episode.
In October, outrage erupted when San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted down a proposal to build nearly 500 new homes — many affordable — on a downtown site at 469 Stevenson St. now being used for valet parking.
For years, cities across the country have limited who may carry a gun in public. The Supreme Court will soon decide whether these limits violate the 2nd Amendment.
Abstract: Facial recognition, body cameras, and other digital technologies are increasingly commonplace tools of police departments. These provide police with an increased ability to collect vast stores of information on our movements and habits, both online and in real life. These new forms of investigation have led to successes in ways that might not have been possible with traditional policing. But they also raise the specter of unchecked police surveillance.
John Eastman, a mainstream conservative lawyer working for Trump, outlined a plan for VP Pence to declare Trump the winner of the 2020 election regardless of the votes. It didn't happen, but should we be worried about the memo when it comes to future elections? Listen to Ep. 57 of the What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law podcast.
