Courts/Rulings & Lawsuits | | |
You’ll see a warning if you file a complaint against the LAPD. Does that chill free speech?
In 1991, in the months after four Los Angeles Police Department officers were filmed beating motorist Rodney King, a number of California cities created easier pathways for the public to file complaints about police officers. But the Legislature was concerned with “less ethical citizens (who would) maliciously file false allegations of misconduct against officers in an effort to punish them for simply doing their jobs,” according to a federal court decision years later.
CalMatters
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LACERA files lawsuit against former Interim Information Security Officer for fraud, conflicts of interest, and breach of fiduciary duty
The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Carmelo Marquez, former Interim Information Security Officer (ISO), and SafeSec LLC (SafeSec), a company he secretly founded and operated using an alias. The complaint alleges fraud, conflicts of interest in violation of Government Code section 1090 and the Political Reform Act, and breach of fiduciary duty.
LACERA News Release
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No qualified immunity for officers in deadly chase-crash
A divided Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel held Friday that qualified immunity was properly denied at the pleading stage to two officers relating to a “ghost chase” - or the following of a suspect at a high rate of speed without activating lights and sirens - that ended in the suspect vehicle crashing into and killing a bystander.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Judge approves L.A. County’s plan to reform Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall
A judge has approved Los Angeles County’s plan to relocate more than 100 youths from Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall to other facilities, including a controversial shift that will dismantle one of the most successful institutions in the otherwise troubled juvenile system. During his ruling, Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza warned county officials that if the plan did not improve the conditions at Los Padrinos, he would enforce a tentative ruling requiring the full closure of the juvenile hall.
Los Angeles Daily News
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Family sues LA County, LASD after a deputy died following a gun-range trailer explosion
The family of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who suffered fatal burns in a mobile gun range explosion sued LA county on Monday, alleging officials recklessly and negligently allowed dangerous flammables to accumulate, causing the deputy’s life-ending injuries.
Los Angeles Public Press
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LAPD falsified reports and punished whistleblower, lawsuit claims
A Los Angeles Police Department commander who claims she was effectively demoted after raising concerns about officers’ failure to turn on body-worn cameras has filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the city. The suit, which was filed May 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges the department misled and falsified reports to the Board of Police Commissioners - a civilian oversight board - about compliance with body-worn cameras.
Los Angeles Public Press
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Aryan Brotherhood leaders ordered murders from California prisons. Can federal prison stop them?
A judge on Monday sentenced three leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood to federal prison terms, clearing the way for the men to be transferred from the California lockups where they orchestrated murders and racketeering schemes and into the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The sentences handed down don't necessarily mean the men have to serve their time in the more restrictive federal prison system.
Los Angeles Times
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Judge cites 'public interest' in argument over 'post-trial' civil rights plea agreement
Faced with a packed gallery and a rare legal request, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson said his biggest concern about striking a jury’s felony civil rights verdict against a former sheriff’s deputy. “The government hasn’t addressed, at least from my reading of the pleadings, any issue of public interest,” Wilson said. That began an argument on Monday that never appeared to persuade Wilson he has the authority to reduce a felony verdict to a misdemeanor as called for in a “post-trial” plea agreement authorized by Bill Essayli, the Trump-appointed interim U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff
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Judge indecisive on legality of LA schools campus-sharing policy
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, on Monday, said he was still undecided on whether or not the LA Unified School District's policy limiting charter schools from sharing campuses with district schools is legal. His decision could turn on the definition of the word “avoid." Last year, the school district's Board of Education enacted a new policy, that would "avoid" charter school colocation at 346 campuses, nearly half of them in the district.
Courthouse News Service
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Supreme Court calls for whole picture review of excessive force claim in deadly police shooting
A deadly traffic stop in Texas needs a second look, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting a two-second rule that restricts excessive force reviews focused on the moment an officer feels threatened. In a unanimous decision, the high court ruled that the required “totality of the circumstances” review should not have any time limit, noting that the “moment-of-threat” rule prevented lower courts from considering any preceding circumstances, like the reason for a stop or earlier interactions.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge pauses dragnet-like rules for California border businesses
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the government to stop enforcing a new requirement that check cashers, currency exchangers and other money service businesses along the Mexican border report all cash transactions over $200 to federal law enforcement while a lawsuit moves forward in California.
Courthouse News Service
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Fallbrook man bit by sheriff's dog has $5M verdict overturned
A federal appeals court has ruled that a $5 million jury verdict against San Diego County in a case involving the use of unreasonable force by a sheriff’s deputy and his dog against a handcuffed preschool teacher was “grossly excessive” and should be lowered to $1.5 million or less.
San Diego Union-Tribune
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Ninth Circuit declines to extend liability for military seizure
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a claim by a former civilian instructor at a U.S. Department of Defense language institute alleging that an Army police officer illegally seized his personal laptop in violation of the Fourth Amendment was properly dismissed for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Former Los Angeles deputy mayor charged with making City Hall bomb threat
LA Mayor Karen Bass' former deputy mayor, who was a top advisor and liaison with police and public safety agencies, agreed to plead guilty Thursday to a single federal charge of making a hoax bomb threat against City Hall. Brian Williams is accused of using a Google Voice account on his personal cellphone to place a call to his city-issued cellphone during a virtual meeting on Oct. 3, then reported to the LAPD that the call he received was a bomb threat.
NBC4
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With motive still a mystery, judge moves L.A. Live homicide case to trial
A Los Angeles County judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors can proceed with murder charges against two men accused of killing a university administrator, despite authorities presenting no motive for the brazen homicide at L.A. Live. Sidney Barrett Morris, 43, an official at Cal State Northridge, was eating dinner alone two years ago when a masked man shot him in the back of the head. Prosecutors charged two men, Santana Kelly and Phillip Clark, with murder based on surveillance videos, phone records, jail calls and other evidence.
Los Angeles Times
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Over 1,000 Proposition 36 felony theft charges filed against repeat offenders
On May 14, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced aggressive actions to protect local businesses, deter retail theft and restore public safety in communities, including ramping up joint operations with law enforcement against organized criminals and filing over 1,000 Proposition 36 felony theft charges against repeat offenders. “Ending the cycle of catch-and-release that sent serial retail thieves back on the streets to reoffend is a top priority,” said District Attorney Hochman.
Our Weekly
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LA DA Hochman touts Prop 36 success for deterring retail theft
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman hailed the success of Proposition 36 for deterring retail theft. Hochman held a press conference Wednesday outside a 7-Eleven store on Olympic Blvd. that has been repeatedly targeted by flash-mobs and other robberies. He also announced a campaign to distribute thousands of bright yellow stickers to be posted at businesses, warning potential thieves of the stepped-up criminal penalties for robberies.
Fox11
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DOJ charges Armenian crime ring in Amazon theft worth over $83 million
Department of Justice officials on Tuesday charged members or associates of an Armenian organized crime ring with stealing more than $83 million worth of cargo from Amazon by posing as legitimate truck drivers and siphoning off goods destined for the company’s warehouses. Since at least 2021, at least four people linked to the crime ring carried out a scheme across California to steal truckloads of merchandise, ranging from smart TVs and GE icemakers to SharkNinja vacuums and air fryers, the DOJ alleged.
CNBC
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Bitcoin RICO: Prosecutors charge 13 men in crypto theft ring
Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., charged 13 men in what court records describe as a wide-ranging conspiracy to identify victims with substantial holdings of cryptocurrency, steal those assets, and then launder the proceeds. More than $265 million in crypto was stolen from the victims, according to a superseding indictment obtained Thursday by CNBC.
CNBC
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‘The fun is over’: California district attorney promises illegal alien crackdown
New Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman plans to crack down on illegal aliens, promising that criminals will be held “fully accountable for their illegal actions” from now on. Hochman, who is a Republican-turned-Independent, defeated incumbent soft-on-crime leftist George Gascón by 20 points. “I am standing at the border between LA County and San Bernardino County where criminals used to enjoy crossing in the LA direction, thinking that little to no consequences would occur if they stole, robbed and engaged in criminal conduct,” Hochman posted on X.
Townhall
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Colombian narco-terrorists charged in federal indictment
Federal authorities announced two Colombian nationals, described as narco-terrorists, have been charged in a six-count indictment. Jacobo Idrobo Arredondo, 39, known as "Marlon Vásquez," and Juan Diego Palta Montero, 26, known as "Ñeque," are accused of leading a cocaine-manufacturing ring that trades drugs for firearms to support terrorist activities in Colombia, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Fox11
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Ex-Irvine Councilwoman Tammy Kim charged with lying about residency
Former Irvine City Councilwoman Tammy Kim is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of lying about where she lived while she ran for office. Kim, who was on the council from 2020 through last year, allegedly updated her address to a home on Alaris Aisle, where she never lived, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. After Kim lost her bid for mayor in November, she filed in December for the special election for City Council in what would become District 5, prosecutors said.
MyNewsLA
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Newsom moves to close another state prison. That makes 5 since he took office
Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling for the closure of another prison in his new budget proposal, which would be the fifth facility closed under his watch, though he didn’t specify which institution now has a target on its back. The closure, which Newsom proposed take place by October 2026, would happen despite the implementation of Proposition 36, a new California law that is predicted to briefly increase the number of people in the prison system.
CalMatters
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It took LAPD 23 years to identify one of their own as the culprit in this fatal love triangle
When Sherri Rasmussen was found dead in her Van Nuys townhome in February 1986, bludgeoned badly and shot three times, detectives called it a burglary gone bad - a disastrously mistaken conclusion that did not budge for decades. Rasmussen was 29, newly married and a popular nursing director at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Her new husband, John Ruetten, came to the marriage with some dangerous baggage: an emotionally volatile ex-lover who was not over him.
Los Angeles Times
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Hearing on Menendez brothers' parole suitability pushed back to late summer
A hearing that could lead to freedom for the Menendez brothers, convicted in their parents' murders in 1989, was pushed back from June 13 to August, California corrections officials said Monday. A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the brothers’ hearings on parole suitability will instead be on Aug. 21 and 22. Erik Menendez, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57, scored a victory in court on May 13 when a judge resentenced them, a move that made them immediately eligible for parole.
NBC News
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How did a man facing sexual assault charges get hired as an LA Metro ambassador?
A Los Angeles Metro contractor hired a man with an open sexual assault case against him to be a transit ambassador, the green-polo wearing personnel that the countywide transportation agency brands as a friendly presence on its trains and buses. The ambassador, Fernando Vinicio Chavez, met his next alleged victim while working on Metro’s system, according to police.
LAist
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L.A. council members vote despite legal warning: Violating public meeting law
When Los Angeles City Council members took up a plan to hike the wages of tourism workers this week, they got some sketchy advice from city lawyers: Hold off on voting for now. Senior Assistant City Atty. Michael J. Dundas dropped a bomb on them on Wednesday - deep into their meeting - saying his office hadn’t done a final legal review of the last-minute changes they wanted.
USA News
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LA sheriffs release statement addressing former deputy’s sexual battery suit
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has responded to a lawsuit by a former deputy who alleges she was terminated in 2014 in retaliation for complaining about being sexually abused by three supervisors over a six-year period, saying in a statement Wednesday that the department “takes all allegations of misconduct seriously.”
MyNewsLA
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Cop busted partying at Stagecoach while claiming $600,000 for fake injury, officials allege
A former Westminster police officer claimed over $600,000 in workers’ compensation for a head injury that allegedly prevented her from working, but meanwhile was hitting the slopes at Mammoth Mountain, visiting Disneyland and dancing at Stagecoach, prosecutors allege. Nicole Brown, 39, of Riverside was charged with 15 felonies related to workers’ compensation insurance fraud, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County sheriff's deputies on pace to take home more than $500 million in overtime pay this year
In the first three months of the year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spent more than $131 million on deputy overtime. For all of last year, roughly $420 million was spent on deputy OT. We're on track for a record year of overtime, with this year's figure on pace to surpass $500 million. Some deputies who are banking in say they'd rather get a break. Anthony Meraz, a veteran sheriff's deputy, says he's exhausted.
ABC7
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LA lawsuit settlements surging past $500 million, with taxpayers footing the bill
Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are quietly being spent to settle lawsuits against the City of Los Angeles - and most residents have no idea. Since 2023, the City Administrative Officer (CAO) outlined that the general fund alone has had to cover over $525 million in liability claims - a number they confirmed will exceed the budget of the current fiscal year, which ends next month.
Westside Current
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When the system cracks, Malibu pays the price
This past weekend offered a troubling glimpse into our future, and summer hasn’t even started. Traffic near Zuma Beach was backed up and chaotic. The City received more than a dozen emails from concerned residents about congestion stretching all the way to Heather Cliff, all because the Zuma underpass remains closed. A crash at Kanan and PCH exacerbated the situation. With limited access and key infrastructure offline, Malibu was already at its breaking point.
CityWatchLA
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FBI warns iPhone, Android users - do not reply to these messages
We were warned. Forget looking for telltale signs, the latest set of AI-fueled attacks are so sophisticated you need to check everything to ensure you’re not being attacked. In the last 24-hours, we have seen Gmail and Outlook users warned that malicious emails are now so “perfect" that they’re impossible to detect, and that calls which seem to come from people we know, could be a dangerous deception.
Forbes
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Billboard raises awareness of 4 unsolved murders in the LA area
The group Justice for Murdered Children unveiled its latest billboard campaign Friday in South Los Angeles in hopes of raising awareness and generating tips in four unsolved homicide cases. The new billboard - at 104th Street and Vermont Avenue - displays the faces of four young murder victims, two men and two women, whose cases remain unsolved. Each billboard asks the chilling question: “Do You Know Who Murdered Me?” and reminds residents they can anonymously report tips to Los Angeles Crime Stoppers.
City News Service
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LASD: Smokey Robinson under investigation for assault allegations
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has confirmed that Motown legend Smokey Robinson, legally known as William Robinson, is under criminal investigation for allegations of sexual assault. The department's Special Victims Bureau is actively investigating the claims, which are still in the early stages. The investigation follows a lawsuit filed by four former housekeepers, who accuse the 85-year-old singer of sexual battery, false imprisonment, negligence, and gender violence.
iHeartRadio
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LA mosque vandalized again, LAPD investigating as hate crime
A man was caught on camera vandalizing a local mosque in Koreatown this week. Now, police are investigating the most recent case of vandalism as a hate crime. The incident has united faith leaders from across the community, standing in solidarity to condemn the hateful act. It happened on Saturday, May 10, at the Islamic Center of Southern California. Surveillance video captured the man spray-painting a wall, tree and fence at the mosque. The messages featured the word "God," and the Star of David.
Fox11
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29 arrested in Southern California retail theft bust operation
Twenty-nine suspects were arrested during a massive retail theft bust in San Bernardino County. The nearly two-week operation took place from May 3-16 and focused on the Victoria Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga. Officers from multiple agencies collaborated in the effort. During the operation, 29 suspects were arrested - 15 were felony arrests and 14 were misdemeanor arrests. Authorities also recovered around $4,402 worth of stolen merchandise.
KTLA
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MS-13 gangsters in L.A. killed member who was FBI informant, feds say
Herlyn Barrientos wasn’t happy to run into a fellow member of his gang in the produce section of his local grocery store. A burly man with tattoos inked on his head and face, Barrientos was from MS-13, a group notorious for savage killings. Federal prosecutors alleged the Honduran national, nicknamed “Doctorazo,” supplied methamphetamine to MS-13 members across Los Angeles, who sold the drug and kicked up a cut to the gang’s imprisoned leader.
Los Angeles Times
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Congressional bill would block California, other states from regulating AI
California and other states are rushing to regulate the development of AI, but a provision in House Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill could stop them from doing so for a decade. The section of the bill from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce contains a provision that could stop states and local governments from enforcing “any law or regulation” on most AI software for the next 10 years.
NOTUS
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Appeals court lifts block on Trump executive order targeting federal worker unions
A federal appeals court has lifted a lower-court order that prevented the federal government from implementing President Donald Trump’s plan to end collective bargaining by workers at more than a dozen federal agencies. In a 2-1 ruling Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman appeared to have erred last month when he froze Trump’s executive order on the subject.
Politico
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CHP’s new low-profile patrol vehicles harder for L.A. drivers to spot in traffic
The California Highway Patrol is putting officers in a new generation of low-profile, specially marked patrol vehicles meant to “blend into traffic just enough to observe the most reckless and dangerous behaviors without immediate detection,” officials announced. In a news release, CHP said California sees nearly 400,000 crashes a year, almost 1,000 reports of reckless driving a day and that in 2024, officers issued 18,000 citations to motorists driving at speeds of 100 miles per hour or higher.
KTLA
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DOJ to end police reform agreements, investigations into departments
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced it will end its agreements to secure court-approved settlements with the cities of Minneapolis and Louisville after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor five years ago. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said her office will seek to dismiss the pending litigation against the two cities and retract the department’s prior findings of constitutional violations.
The Signal
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US Senate blocks California’s electric car mandate in historic vote
The U.S. Senate voted today to block California’s landmark mandate phasing out gas-powered cars, dealing a substantial blow to the state’s aggressive transition to electric vehicles. The decision to revoke a waiver that the Biden administration granted to California could upend the state’s decades-long efforts and authority to clean up its air pollution - the worst in the nation - and reduce greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
CapRadio
| | Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | | |
West LA man gets 40 years for using Snapchat, other sites to entice children into porn
A resident of the Westside of Los Angeles was sentenced Friday to 40 years behind bars for using websites and apps such as Snapchat to meet and entice children to engage in sexually explicit conduct via video-chat then take screen shot images and videos of them. Mark David Wallin, 44, of the Del Rey area pleaded guilty in January 2023 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
City News Service
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California woman pleads guilty to threatening judge in abortion pill case
A California woman has pleaded guilty to threatening to injure a federal judge in Texas and warning him to "watch his back" after he suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in 2023. Dolly Kay Patterson entered her plea in Dallas federal court on Friday ahead of a previously scheduled trial on charges related to a threat that, according to court papers, had been directed at U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo.
Reuters
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West Covina man gets 10-month sentence for malware scheme targeting elderly victims in Encino
A San Gabriel Valley man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $102,550 in restitution for his attempt to obtain additional money from two elderly victims who had already paid thousands as part of an online phishing scheme that locked up their home computer. Tai Su, 49, of West Covina pleaded guilty in January to one federal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
City News Service
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Ford racketeering suit alleges California lemon law attorneys defrauded automakers
Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against lemon law firms and lawyers in California, alleging they overbilled for legal fees by submitting court timesheets recording more than 24 hours worked in a single day. Lemon laws protect consumers who purchase or lease a new vehicle that has a defect that impairs its use, value or safety, and California's law allows for vehicle makers to recover attorneys' fees of the consumer.
The Detroit News
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Fraud pushes California’s community colleges to consider an application fee. Is it worth it?
Under scrutiny from state and federal lawmakers, California’s community colleges are trying to crack down on financial aid fraud. Scammers have increasingly infiltrated the state’s 116 community colleges, posing as students in an effort to steal financial aid from the state and federal government. At a meeting Tuesday, the board that oversees California’s community colleges voted to require all students to verify their identity, which is currently optional for most applicants.
CalMatters
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Harvard sues Trump administration to halt federal ban on enrolling international students
A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s ban on Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students. US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs ruled hours after the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college filed suit Friday. Harvard argued revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was “clear retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically rooted policy demands.
CNN
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