By Howard Mintz
hmintz@mercurynews.com
Posted: 05/18/2012 05:41:38 AM PDT
Updated: 05/18/2012 05:42:00 AM PDT

California’s judges will now have to post all their financial disclosure information in cyberspace.

In a unanimous decision, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission on Thursday approved a rule that requires California’s more than 1,700 judges to post their disclosure forms on the Internet, despite objections from judicial leaders that it could jeopardize their privacy and security.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
May 14, 2012 | 1:29 pm

State judicial leaders warned Monday that the proposed cuts for the California courts may jeopardize public access to the justice system.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 14, 2012

The Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeals today to remove from the November ballot a proposal to abolish the death penalty in California, arguing it violates the state’s “single-subject rule” for initiatives.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Apr. 30, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

A professional-quality video clip that popped up on YouTube depicts physical deficiencies in California courtrooms and makes the case for building new courthouses and rehabbing old ones.

The video, containing scene after scene of overcrowded courtrooms, mouse traps and water damage, was produced for the Judicial Council, the San Francisco-based policymaking body for California’s court system.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Apr. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The California Legislature has a bad habit of making sweeping decisions in the moment without giving much thought to their long-term consequences.

The syndrome’s most striking example was an immense overhaul in 1996 of the state’s electric power system, misnamed “deregulation,” based on blithe, untested assertions that it would lower power bills.

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BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Published: 15 April 2012 02:18 PM

Advocates and opponents of California’s medical marijuana clinics are in a legal no-man’s land after a flurry of appellate court decisions that contradict each other on whether local governments can ban the dispensaries.

The decisions also conflict on how the clinics can supply themselves with marijuana.

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Sunday, March 25, 2012 – 11:50 a.m.

Over a year ago San Bernardino County sued the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association over the union using Deputy District Attorneys to represent Deputy Public Defenders in low level grievance and disciplinary matters.

A practice former Public Defender Doreen Boxer didn’t care for.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2012 – 9:40 am

California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who has feuded openly for months with state lawmakers and dissident judges over a bid to weaken her administrative power, appealed to the Legislature on Monday to spare the judiciary from further budget cuts.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/05/2012 02:28:28 PM PST

The latest development in the fight over medical marijuana could sharply limit cities’ power to prohibit marijuana dispensaries.

A recent opinion, from the division of the state’s Fourth District Court of Appeals that meets in Santa Ana, holds that since California law provides for dispensaries, cities cannot ban them by declaring them to be a public nuisance.

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A Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana voids Lake Forest’s zoning ban on clinics, but rules that they can only sell marijuana they grow, a regulation that would force most to close.

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
March 1, 2012, 7:48 p.m.

California cities may not ban medical marijuana dispensaries, but the operations may sell only weed that is grown on site, an appeals court ruled in an Orange County case.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The battle over the cameras that many California cities and counties use to nab motorists who blow through red lights or – more commonly – make rolling stops for right turns has raged in the Capitol for several years without resolution.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/16/2012 04:26:55 PM PST

The trajectory of a sweeping San Bernardino County corruption case hinges on how a state appellate court rules.

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Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakayue

By Dan Smith
smith@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 – 9:27 am

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has assailed the Assembly for passing a bill that would strip power from the Judicial Council she controls, prompting opponents to suggest her tone is inappropriate for the state’s top judge.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 30, 2012 | 3:31 pm

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye lost a round over Judicial Council power

The state’s top judge lost a political battle Monday when the state Assembly voted to shift key budget decisions from the state Judicial Council that she heads to local trial courts, some of which have complained about the panel’s handling of money.

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By Howard Mintz hmintz@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/30/2012 06:56:26 AM PST
Updated: 01/30/2012 07:31:17 AM PST

With a crucial vote looming Monday, a conflict that has shaken California’s judiciary reaches a critical stage when the Assembly considers legislation that would strip control of most of the court system’s purse strings from a central bureaucracy and turn it over to the Legislature and local trial judges.

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Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye

January 26, 2012

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye today urged the defeat of Assembly legislation that would undermine the authority of the Judicial Council, and give courts in as few as two counties authority to veto any statewide judicial project.

Cantil-Sakauye, who became chief justice in 2010, is showing herself to be a tough fighter as she lobbies to kill legislation by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, himself the consummate inside player.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

As the Legislature reconvened this month, California’s judges resumed their civil war over money and power.

It pits Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the State Judicial Council, along with one faction of trial and appellate judges, against a rebellious faction, organized as the Alliance of California Judges, over how to allocate pain as the courts adjust to reduced financing.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – 4:00 p.m.

The attempt by the City of Upland to shutter a medical marijuana co-op fell flat last week.

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From left, Mark Kirk, former chief of staff to Supervisor Gary Ovitt, developer Jeff Burum, former assistant assessor Jim Erwin, and former supervisor Paul Biane, at an August court appearance.(STAN LIM/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 31 December 2011 05:39 PM

A panel of California appellate judges could soon be deciding how, and possibly if, the Colonies corruption case will proceed to trial.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Riverside is considering an appeal filed by the San Bernardino County district attorney and state attorney general offices seeking to restore charges that were dismissed in August against Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, former Supervisor Paul Biane, former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff for Supervisor Gary Ovitt.

The court completed briefings from prosecutors and defense attorneys on the appeal last month and also agreed to consider writs of mandate filed by the defense seeking to have more charges dismissed against the four. A decision is expected in the next few months.

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Friday, December 9, 2011 – 04:30 p.m.

The California Court of Appeal has now entered the fray on the Colonies case.

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Cheryl Miller
The Recorder

December 5, 2011

SACRAMENTO — With 2011 nearing a close, California lawyers must be wondering which will arrive first: Gov. Jerry Brown’s first trial court appointments or Santa Claus.

Nearly a full year into his administration, Brown has named just one jurist — albeit a very high-profile one — to the bench: Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu. Meanwhile, vacancies in the superior and appellate courts have gone unfilled and totaled 62 at the end of October, the latest figure available from the Administrative Office of the Courts. The vacancy rate is nearing a two-year high.

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Aaron Sandusky, 41, says he turned to medical marijuana after painful gout left him with an addiction to pain killers. His three Inland marijuana dispensaries are closed and he wants his case to go to the Supreme Court/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BY LAURIE LUCAS
STAFF WRITER
llucas@pe.com

Published: 27 November 2011 06:28 PM

Aaron Sandusky is bloodied but unbowed.

For several years he owned G3 Holistics Inc., a not-for-profit company that ran three Inland medical marijuana dispensaries.

Earlier this month, federal agents raided facilities in Colton, Upland and Moreno Valley, which are now bare and shuttered, and cleaned out his 40,000-square-pot growing warehouse in Ontario.

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An appellate court upholds local government bans on medical marijuana dispensaries. City officials hope to shut remaining storefronts quickly.

BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY, ALICIA ROBINSON
AND SANDRA STOKLEYSTAFF WRITERS
rdeatley@pe.com | arobinson@pe.com sstokley@pe.com
Published: 11 November 2011 05:45 PM

Inland cities and counties that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to act quickly to close down the operations now that a court ruling has upheld the prohibitions.

Attorneys for the dispensaries vowed to appeal and warned that the legal fight is far from over.

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The decision by a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal upholds Riverside’s ban. It could embolden more cities and counties to enact their own bans.

By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2011

In a decision that could have immediate fallout for medical marijuana dispensaries, a state appeals court has ruled that California law allows cities and counties to ban the stores.

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Wes Woods II and Sandra Emerson, Staff Writers
Created: 11/09/2011 06:58:49 PM PST

RIVERSIDE – The banning of the G3 Holistic marijuana collective by Upland and other cities was upheld by an appellate court Wednesday. A judgment from the Fourth District Court of Appeals determined that Upland’s banning of the collective did not contradict Proposition 215, the 1996 law that approved medical marijuana in the state, nor Senate Bill 420, which details the amount of marijuana a person can possess for medical purposes.

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Miranda Oley, 20, of Riverside protest on the corner of Twelfth Street in support of patients medical marijuana Wednesday November 2, 2011 in front of the Fourth District Courthouse in Riverside. (LaFonzo Carter/ Staff Photographer)

By Wes Woods II, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 11/02/2011 02:55:01 PM PDT

RIVERSIDE – The 4th District Court of Appeal has 90 days to render a decision in a case involving the city of Upland’s ban of a medical marijuana dispensary operated by G3 Holistics.

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The 4th District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Riverside and Upland prohibitions
BY RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Published: 02 November 2011 08:29 PM

A state appellate court panel heard arguments Wednesday on whether Riverside and Upland can issue citywide bans on medical marijuana dispensaries.

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BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 21 October 2011 07:10 PM

Prosecutors are arguing that a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge erred in tossing out some corruption charges against developer Jeff Burum and three former county officials, stating that they should be allowed to prove the allegations at trial.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/20/2011 03:12:49 PM PDT

The attorney representing Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum is asking a state appeals court to dismiss the remaining criminal charges against his client, who prosecutors charged in a sweeping county corruption probe.

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Store operators say their medical marijuana dispensaries are legitimate under Prop. 215; cities, however, fear guidelines are being ignored

RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Inland area cities and counties are working to close storefront medical marijuana dispensaries that have appeared all over the landscape in the past two years.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Sep. 30, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The Legislature’s budget analyst has waded into the political war between the state court system’s San Francisco-based leadership – including Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye – and hundreds of local trial court judges.

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September 29th, 2011, 3:33 pm
Posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer

The County of Orange was unfair to the Sheriff’s deputies union when it moved deputies out of jailhouse jobs and replaced them with civilian jailers in an attempt to save as much as $34 million a year, a California Court of Appeal ruled.

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He sued for disability retirement
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/26/2011 06:33:04 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Former Police Chief Garrett Zimmon may be entitled to a disability retirement after a recent state court ruling sided with him in his lengthy legal battle with the city.

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Monday, September 19, 2011
By Ed Mendel

SANTA ROSA — The Sonoma County retirement board voted last week to release retiree names and their pension amounts, becoming the latest loser in seven separate superior court decisions since 2009 upheld by three different appeals courts.

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By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: August 23, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — Lines at a courthouse are kind of like hurt feelings in a divorce: they are expected, they are unavoidable, but, hopefully, they are dealt with quickly.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

When Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature took another bite out of the state court system to balance the state budget – on paper, anyway – they reignited a political war between rival factions of judges over financial priorities.

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By Mike Cruz Staff Writer
Created: 08/12/2011 09:51:32 PM PDT

State Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is convening meetings with key members of the state bar association to develop solutions for massive budget cuts in California’s courts.

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By Torey Van Oot
tvanoot@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

As California court employees across the state brace for the possibility of more layoffs and hour reductions, the paychecks of those who actually sit on the bench continue to enjoy a constitutional protection from cuts.

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By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
July 23, 2011

Reporting from San Francisco— California judicial leaders, responding to budget slashing by state lawmakers, voted Friday to approve cutbacks that will close some courthouses, reduce court hours, and delay civil trials, custody decisions and divorces in some counties.

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Tani Cantil-Sakauye

10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 14, 2011

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

California’s chief justice told a gathering of Inland attorneys and judges that the state judiciary faces a critical 10 days as it deals with an additional $150 million in cuts to a budget previously sliced by $200 million.

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By Greg Lucas | 07/14/11 12:00 AM PST

California’s $3.7 billion court system is another of this year’s budget victims, grappling with its highest single-year reduction since the state began paying trial court costs 14 years ago.

Overall, California’s judicial branch – the largest in the nation with nearly 1,700 judges – must reduce costs by $350 million in the fiscal year that began July 1.
And continue doing so each year thereafter.

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The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
July 8, 2011

For the second time this year, the state appellate court in San Francisco has upheld the furloughs instituted under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of state employees paid by money outside of the general fund.

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Courts unclear on cities excluding shops
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Created: 07/04/2011 06:26:24 PM PDT

Lawyers know better than to succumb to the pun that legal issues surrounding medical marijuana are “hazy.”

But those arguing about the right of cities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries – for or against, can certainly draw mixed messages from recent decisions by the state appellate court and statements from the U.S. Attorney General’s office.

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Appeals court allows clinic to sell medical marijuana
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 07/03/2011 02:41:36 PM PDT

UPLAND – The G3 Holistic, a medical marijuana cooperative, reopened Sunday thanks to a decision made last week in the Fourth District Court of Appeals.

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Court rules that Upland shop can reopen
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 06/29/2011 05:10:00 PM PDT

UPLAND – Aaron Sandusky has a lot to celebrate this holiday weekend.

The president of G3 Holistic, a medical marijuana cooperative, is reopening his Upland shop thanks to a decision made last week in the Fourth District Court of Appeals.

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By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 06/23/2011 06:20:46 PM PDT

COLTON – The city’s lawyers had hoped that today they could begin fining the president of a medical marijuana collective $1,000 per day for defying a court order to shut down.

Instead, Judge Donald Alvarez – who issued a preliminary injunction in April ordering the dispensary to shut down because it was violating Colton’s ban – said in San Bernardino Superior Court on Thursday that the contempt hearing scheduled for that day was moot.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011 – 04:10 p.m.

Local medical marijuana co-op G3 Holistics Inc. has now been granted a stay keeping it from being forced to shutter its doors in Colton.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011 – 05:30 a.m.

An Upland medical marijuana collective shuttered by a Superior Court Judge last year will now be allowed to reopen.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
June 14, 2011 | 5:30 pm

Highlights of the Democratic budget package that lawmakers plan to vote on Wednesday, according to Assembly budget staff:

TAXES AND FEES

$900 million –- Raise local sales tax rate by 0.25 percentage point

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Tani Cantil-Sakauye

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
June 14, 2011 | 10:38 pm

Tani Cantil-Sakauye The chief justice of the California Supreme Court, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, said the severity of budget cuts to the courts that Democrats plan to push through the Legislature on Wednesday would undermine Californians’ fundamental rights and deliver “a blow against justice.”

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Published: June 7, 2011
Updated: June 8, 2011 7:33 a.m.
By JON CASSIDY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – The sale of the Orange County fairgrounds to a private company is dead, unless the state Supreme Court resurrects the deal.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011 – 01:00 p.m.

InlandPolitics has learned on May 12, 2011, the California Supreme Court reassigned the criminal appeal of former Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 05/17/2011 09:30:42 PM PDT

A state appeals court has ruled that Sacramento County’s retirement board must release the names and pensions of retired county employees.

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A ruling by a state appeals court orders Sacramento County’s pension system to make public the names and pension pay for 8,500 retirees. L.A., Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties, among others, may have to follow suit.

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2011, 7:58 p.m.

Some of California’s largest counties — including Los Angeles — could be forced to reveal the names and retirement benefits of tens of thousands of public employees under an appeals court ruling.

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Sunday, May 15, 2011 – 05:30 a.m.

If the San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association (SBCERA) was considering appealing last weeks decision by a superior court judge that sided with the Press-Enterprise newspaper in seeking the release of retiree pension data, it had better think again.

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Sunday, May 15, 2011 – 05:20 a.m.

An appeal has been lodged by the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos.

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By PE Politics
May 3, 2011 5:22 PM

A bill to put Riverside and San Bernardino counties into their own appellate court district failed on a party-line vote at its first committee Tuesday, with justices divided on the issue.

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12:34 AM PDT on Sunday, May 1, 2011

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

Special Section S.B. County Probe

San Bernardino County’s $102 million settlement with Colonies Partners has taken up an increasing portion of flood-control money, delaying at least four major projects, according to budget documents and county officials.

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12:36 AM PDT on Sunday, May 1, 2011

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

A bill calling for a new Inland-area based appellate court district in California will get a first look Tuesday in the state Legislature.

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Friday, April 22, 2011 – 08:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday April 22, 2011 – 09:35 a.m.

A story titled “Ruling opens door” published Tuesday in The Sun and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin newspapers presents a wild stretch at applying a recent California court decision as being similar to alleged misconduct involving a $102 million settlement between the County of San Bernardino and Colonies Partners L.P.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011 – 10:30 a.m.

A hornet’s nest was stirred up last week when former county supervisor and assessor Bill Postmus entered a blanket guilty plea to all charges, 14 felonies, brought against him by San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos.

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Police union denied back pay from forced furloughs in ’09
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/26/2011 08:08:11 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The city has won a court skirmish against the police union over back pay during city-imposed furloughs.

A fight with the firefighters union continues.

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Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/16/2011 06:02:52 PM PDT

COLTON – The city is pursuing further legal action to shut down two medical marijuana distributors that have announced they intended to remain open despite two judges’ orders to temporarily shut down, said City Attorney Dean Derleth.

The city filed papers Wednesday in support of contempt-of-court hearings because of the refusals.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2010 – 10:45 a.m.

An attempt to settle a dispute between the County of San Bernardino and the union representing county public attorneys failed last month.

More than a year ago, the county filed suit against the San Bernardino Public Attorneys Association over the unions use of Deputy District Attorneys in disciplinary matters, were the issue involved Deputy Public Defenders.

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SKIRMISH: They are in battles across the area, where many cities have banned their operation.

12:38 AM PST on Sunday, March 6, 2011

By LAURIE LUCAS
The Press-Enterprise

Jose Avalos, 25, plunked down $35 for 1/8-ounce of a type of marijuana called Purple Killer Kush to relieve his back pain.

The patient, who waited his turn inside Moreno Valley’s fledgling medical marijuana dispensary, said cannabis beats every drug he’s tried.

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Thursday, March 3, 2011 – 08:30 p.m.

A lawsuit filed by a former mistress and employee of San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos was tossed out Thursday morning by a Superior Court Judge, who did a complete turnaround from a tentative ruling given yesterday.

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11:09 PM PST on Wednesday, March 2, 2011

By JOHN F. HILL
The Press-Enterprise

A banned dispensary in Wildomar will be allowed to re-open after an appeals court ruling in an ongoing legal fight over access to medical marijuana.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Likely scuttling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s controversial bid to sell 11 state office properties to private investors, a state appellate court Monday effectively blocked the sale from proceeding until Gov.-elect Jerry Brown takes office next month.

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11:21 PM PST on Monday, December 20, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

A Riverside medical marijuana collective will be open to serve customers today, after an appeals court on Monday ruled the facility can operate while the city’s lawsuit to close it proceeds.

A lower court judge had granted an injunction to close the Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center but stayed the order so the facility’s attorney could appeal.

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Two former members of the state building authority filed suit last month to halt the sale, arguing that it was a waste of taxpayer funds. The Schwarzenegger administration is pushing the sale to raise $1.2 billion to ease this year’s budget shortfall.

By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times
December 13, 2010, 8:43 p.m.

A state appeals court has stalled the controversial sale of 24 government buildings, ruling Monday afternoon that the transaction cannot go forward this week as planned and delaying it until at least January.

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10:48 PM PDT on Sunday, September 5, 2010

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

A Riverside County case scheduled to be argued Tuesday before the California Supreme Court will affect how courts statewide handle criminal cases on the verge of dismissal because of constitutional speedy-trial deadlines.

People v. Engram emerged from three years of severe courtroom congestion in Riverside County Superior Courts that saw dismissal of about 350 cases — most of them misdemeanors — because they had reached those limits.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
September 2, 2010

A state appeals court has denied a conservative law group’s request that it force Attorney General Jerry Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to defend Proposition 8 in federal court.

The denial was issued Wednesday and entered Thursday on the website of the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Sacramento.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 25, 2010

By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Carol D. Codrington’s nomination as associate justice for the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division 2, based in Riverside, was confirmed Wednesday.

The action was a unanimous vote by the state Commission on Judicial Appointments and took place after a public hearing at the Supreme Court in San Francisco.

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Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/20/2010 08:55:15 PM PDT

UPLAND – Three Upland medical marijuana cooperatives will remain closed, despite a published opinion filed Wednesday in a state appellate court.

The co-ops appeared in court Friday to request a lifting of a preliminary injunction granted by a judge at the West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

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The dispute over Anaheim’s 3-year-old ban on medical marijuana outlets is sent back to the lower court. But the judges do reject the city’s position that U.S. law trumps California’s laws on the issue.

By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times

August 19, 2010

A state appeals court Wednesday declined to decide whether California’s medical marijuana laws prevent cities and counties from outlawing dispensaries, sending the closely watched dispute over Anaheim’s 3-year-old ban back to the lower court for more hearings.

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