Publications

People v. Smith, 198 Cal. App. 4th 415,439 (2011), held that Marsy's Law added a constitutional right to counsel for victims. "[Victim] Doe had a right to not only be notified of the restitution and to be present, but also to be heard.

In the last 10 years, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided two cases involving naked licensing: Barcamerica International v. Tyfield Importers (9th Cir 2002) 289 F. 3d 589, and Freecyclesunnyvale v. The Freecycle Network (9th Cir 2010) 626 F.3d 509. Most lawyers regard naked licensing as a rarity likely to involve non-profit organizations (as Freecycle did) or very small companies.

In November 2008, the people of California voted for a proposition known as Marsy's Law. This law expanded victims' right to restitution under the California Constitution and converted their statutory right to counsel into a constitutional right.

A criminal defendant may have to contend with both criminal prosecution and a civil lawsuit by the victim. This common in driving under the influence cases.

Some tort cases involve a defendant who is also charged with a crime. The defendant in some of these cases has assets.

On November 5, 2010, Loyola Law School and the Office of Restorative Justice of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles sponsored a Victims' Right Conference. The Conference served as the inaugural event of the law school's Center for Restorative Justice (CRJ).

Marsy's Law, last year's Proposition 9, received quite a bit of publicity before and after it passed. Marsy's Law converted some victim's rights from statutory rights to constitutional rights. It also added some new state constitutional rights for victims.

Sometimes it seems hard to find anything that large corporations and poor people have in common. But it turns out there is one surprising common trait: They are soft on criminals.

Trial lawyers know the importance of having a criminal conviction admitted in a civil case. Significant time and effort are put into having the conviction admitted into evidence.

Proposition 9, the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, also called Marsy's Law, passed with almost 54 percent of the vote. It is an interesting proposition, starting with its supporters.