No. 41
It's Sunday, March 15, and today's edition deals with local education events, mental health diversion, and our nation's declaration of independence in response to unfunded mandates.
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Two accused of impersonating police officers
Juan Carlos Jimenez, Sr. and Elias Roman of Lake Elsinore were each charged with false imprisonment and impersonating a peace officer. The Riverside Sheriff's Department says the two pulled over a woman while flashing red and blue emergency lights and a siren in black Ford Police Interceptor. They each pleaded not guilty.
Murrieta foster father arrested on child molestation charges
Napoleon Cerpa of Murrieta was charged on six pedophilic counts on Feb. 27. He pleaded not guilty. The Riverside Sheriff's Department says he was a foster father.
37 missing children found in Riverside County
A coordinated operation resulted in the arrest of seven suspects accused of human trafficking and the recovery of 37 missing children in Riverside County, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday.
The California Department of Justice, United States Marshals Service, Riverside Sheriff's, Riverside District Attorney's Office, Riverside Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Probation Office and Riverside County Department of Public Social Services collaborated on the operation.
Local happenings
Navigating Today's Immigration Landscape
Inland Counties Legal Services is hosting a virtual immigration education seminar on March 24, led by attorney Latoya Belle. Tickets are free, and available here.
San Bernardino Expungement clinic
The Inland Empire Legal Literacy Project, San Bernardino Public Defender's Office, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights are putting together a legal education and expungement clinic on March 27. Empowered Living Community Church will host the event, at 2377 N. Sierra Way, San Bernardino, 12:30-2 p.m.
Community & Justice Academy
San Bernardino Superior Court is launching a six-week educational program to educate the community on the judicial process and civic responsibilities. The program will be led by judges and subject-matter experts. Sessions will be held Thursdays 5-7 p.m. at the San Bernardino Justice Center, from April 23 until May 28. There are only 24 slots. Applications close April 5. Topics include bail, juvenile justice, mental health diversion, civil litigation and court funding. More information at the program website.
Mock trial team start-up information to be shared at SB County session
Attorneys and teachers who are interested in starting a high school mock trial team in San Bernardino County can attend a 30-minute informational session that starts at 4 p.m., April 23.
Attorneys and teachers interested can sign up for the session informational session through the Google form here.
Appellate mediation program
The Riverside Court of Appeal is asking for attorneys to participate in its mediation program. The volunteers can be experienced in all areas of law, and can be retired, but must have ten years of legal experience. One hundred and sixty five attorneys over the years have participated in the 34-year-old program, but now only has 15 active mediators.
Mediations are scheduled to the convenience of the attorney, and can be remote. The program saves time for litigants as well as the Court of Appeals.
Interested attorneys can call the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, and ask for Jackie Hoar.
Free legal aid clinics
Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Associations hosts free legal aid clinics at 838 Alta St, Redlands, the last Wednesday of every month. They also host clinics the first, second and fourth Monday of every month at Bordwell Park, 2008 Martin Luther King Blvd., Riverside. All clinics are held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Local news from local sources
California Secretary Of State Says Sheriff’s Election Investigation ‘Not Normal Behavior’ // Riverside Record
DA will not charge former Riverside police officer accused of sexual assault // SCNG
Witness in Colton religious order murder case was concerned for man who then vanished // SCNG
Colton religious order warned man to stop taking its customers before he vanished // SCNG
Redlands police arrest suspect in hate crime assault // Community Forward Redlands
California news
Resistance state: Tracking California’s lawsuits against the new Trump administrationThis story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Round 2 of California vs. Trump is well underway. President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders moments after being inaugurated president, and many of them could directly affect California. These orders include revoking licenses for offshoreInland Empire Law WeeklyCalMatters Staff
Inland Empire DAs call for judicial power over mental health diversion
Judges, not mental health experts, should determine whether a defendant's case should be diverted to mental health treatment, Riverside District Attorney Michael Hestrin and San Bernardino District Attorney Jason Anderson said March 12. They joined head prosecutors across the state who have supported Assembly Bill 46, a reform brought by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen (D-Elk Grove).
California law currently allows a defendant's case to be routed to mental health treatment, instead of prosecution, if the defendant has a diagnosed mental health disorder, the defendant's release will not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety if treated in the community, and a mental health expert believes that the disorder caused or motivated the criminal behavior.
AB 46 will change the qualifications: another person's physical safety will be considered, not the public safety. The bill would also require the mental health expert to consider whether the mental health diversion plan is appropriate to address the disorder's symptoms.
"Under current law, once a defendant meets certain statutory criteria, judges have very limited discretion to deny diversion. Courts have even been forced to approve diversion in cases where no clear treatment plan exists, community safety is at risk, or where defendants have failed prior treatment efforts - due to how the statute is written and interpreted by appellate courts." a release from the Riverside District Attorney's Office says.
“Assembly Bill 46 paves a common-sense path and provides judges with the ability to reasonably assess the dangerousness of violent offenders," said Anderson in a press release.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office referenced three Inland Empire cases in which defendants were released due to a mental health diversion.
One case was in which a man was alleged to attack his wife with a knife. In another referenced by the DA's Office, a woman was accused of paralyzing her ex-lover by running him over. A third case was for a man who was alleged to have robbed an 83-year-old. In each of these cases, the defendants were released from prison and ordered to undergo mental health treatment. The DA's Office does not clearly identify the cases, and did not claim any of the defendants committed offenses while released. The third man, accused of the robbery, was taken back into custody after failing to comply with the treatment program.
The San Bernardino press release urged people to contact members of the Senate Public Safety Committee, which is hearing the bill on March 17. The Riverside press release encouraged the public to watch the committee hearing on March 17.
California’s foster care system is buckling under the weight of this unexpected cost
An insurance crisis continues to rattle California’s foster care system, threatening to displace thousands of vulnerable children.
Since 2024, more than two dozen nonprofits that recruit, train and support foster parents have shuttered across 13 counties, according to the California Department of Social Services.
Counties have historically relied on the licensed nonprofits...
Cal State sues U.S. Department of Education over transgender athlete at San José State
SAN JOSE — In the latest legal clash pitting California colleges against the Trump administration, California State University has sued the U.S. Department of Education to challenge the findings of a probe accusing San José State University of violating federal civil rights law by allowing a transgender woman to play on its women’s volleyball team.
The lawsuit, filed March 6 in the Northern District of California, seeks to block the federal government from following through on a threat to cut funding to San José State if it does not sign a proposed resolution agreement.
That threat could affect an estimated 66% of San José State students who receive federal financial aid totaling roughly $130 million annually, according to Cal State. It could also disrupt $175 million in federally funded research into areas including autonomous driving and the impact of space travel on humans.
"Suing the Education Department 'is not a step we take lightly...'"
National news
Judge finds ‘compelling and troubling’ evidence of racial profiling by federal agents in Minnesota
MINNESOTA—A U.S. district court judge in Minnesota found “compelling and troubling” evidence that federal agents racially profiled Somali and Latino residents during the immigration crackdown known as Operation Metro Surge.
The 111-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, an appointee of President Trump, adds weight to claims in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union that the federal government authorized its agents to arrest people based solely on their race or ethnicity to fulfill the Trump administration’s demand for mass deportations.
“Plaintiffs have made a clear showing that..."
Trump probe of Fed Chair Powell meant to harass, judge says while denying subpoenas
WASHINGTON — A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's subpoenas to probe the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell, pointing to “a mountain of evidence” that President Donald Trump is using the investigation to force lower interest rates, according to an order unsealed Friday.
In a scathing 27-page order issued Wednesday, Chief Judge James Boasberg for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote there is “abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair.”
"For years, the President has publicly targeted Powell..."
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to revoke legal protections for Haitians
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Wednesday made an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the revocation of legal status for more than 350,000 Haitians, opening them up to deportations.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices to block a lower court's ruling that found the Trump administration unlawfully ended Temporary Protected Status for Haiti.
"In court filings, Sauer argued that..."
In perspective
The Declaration of Independence: unfunded mandates
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, Inland Empire Law Weekly is analyzing each of the 27 reasons for independence as laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Today's reason has to do with an unfunded mandate:
"He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures."
This has to do with the Quartering Acts, in which the british parliament required the colonies to feed and house soldiers. The patriot’s concern does not, according to the own writing, have to do with privacy concerns or use of force. Their objection was against the financial imposition, in other words, the unfunded mandate to provide for the soldiers.
Prior to 1765, the colonial assemblies would pass their own acts to provide for soldiers. New York's allocation ended in 1764, one year following the end of the French and Indian War. Parliament made the first Quartering Act in 1765, ordering the colonial authorities to pay for troops to stay in barracks, pubs, inns and stables. The English then sent over 1,500 troops. The New York Assembly initially refused to accommodate them, writing to King George that they would violate their financial duty to their constituents if they took on the cost.
"By marching several Regiments into this Colony, this Expense would become ruinous and insupportable; And, therefore, we cannot consistent with our Duty to our Constituents, put it in the Power of any Person...to lay such a Burden on them," they wrote.
Founding Father John Dickinson called this a tax.
"What is this but taxing us at a certain sum and leaving us only the manner of raising it?" Dickinson asked.
Benjamin Franklin, writing to an English nobleman, said that the standing army would lead to revolution.
"Every Act of Oppression will sour their Tempers, lessen greatly if not annihilate the Profits of your Commerce with them, and hasten their final Revolt: For the Seeds of Liberty are universally sown there, and nothing can eradicate them," Franklin wrote.
This day in history
On March 15, 1848, the Hungarian War of Independence broke out. This revolution attempted to replace the Emperor of Austria, who was then the head of Hungary's state, with an elected parliament. Similar to the American Revolution, this fight was over an encroaching monarch. The newly crowned Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph 1 was only 18-years-old, when he decided to unilaterally suspend Hungarian laws approved by his predecessor. These laws had expanded the right to vote and eliminated the nobility. Franz Joseph had no legal right to override the laws. The popular outcry was so strong that the revolution was only stifled by the invasion of the Russian army.
Reading
Kossuth speaking in the town of Cegled on Sept. 24, 1848. Hungarian: Kossuth Lajos toborzóbeszéde Cegléden 1848. szeptember 24-én.
Every week, Inland Empire Law Weekly recommends a book. This week's selection is Lawful Revolution by Istvan Deak. This book focuses on governor-president of the Hungarian State during the war of independence, Lajos Kossuth. Kossuth was heavily inspired by the American Revolution. His American contemporaries viewed him as the hope for expanding democracy. He took a tour of America in 1851, during which he was called the Hungarian Washington and received hundred-gun salutes. A bust of him has been in the Capitol Rotunda of the United States Congress since 1990.
Throughout his life, Kossuth attempted to do things legally, first by legislating reform as an elected member of the nation's congress, and then by fighting to enforce those reforms against an illegally operating executive.
$34 from Columbia University Press
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