When individuals are jailed while criminal charges are pending or imprisoned after a conviction, they do not lose their civil rights. Inmates of state and federal facilities have the right to receive adequate physical and psychological care, including treatment for any injuries or medical conditions. However, recent inmate deaths in…
The opioid crisis in the U.S. continues to spread and at this point, few families and individuals are left unscathed. In addition to the deep physical and psychological impact an addiction has on a person, it also has profound effects on that person’s family. This is one of the ways…
In August, 2017, the Pasadena City Council approved the final draft of the revised Tenant Protection Ordinance. The new changes clarify when displaced tenants are eligible for moving and relocation financial assistance. When and whether landlords need to pay displaced tenants for their troubles has become a significant issue throughout…
In mid-August, Edwin Gomez-Zarate, 35, was working for SiteOne Landscape Supply and operating a forklift to load and unload paver stones for a residential driveway project. Details are not immediately known, but Gomez-Zarate became trapped in the forklift in some way. Police were sent to the worksite that afternoon and…
In January of 2017, San Francisco authorities discovered that there were 20 to 26 people living in squalid and unsafe conditions in the basement of The Clean Wash Center on Mission Street. The basement had been home to dozens of people, ranging in age from 12 to 72 years old,…
Under the California law, the End of Life Option Act, which went into effect June of 2016, terminally ill patients have the right to request life-ending medications. They must do so in a specific way and endure a waiting period before they can receive the drugs. However, the way the…
The family of an elderly Korean War veteran, Robert Hopkins, who passed away after falling from his hospital bed, has filed a lawsuit against Valley Convalescent Hospital located in Bakersfield, California. The family is citing neglect as the cause of their loved one’s wrongful early death. Specifically, the family is…
This summer, landlords in Greenbrae, California, settled a complaint brought by a female tenant with a disability and the Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California (FHANC) based on disability discrimination. The female tenant, Stacey Kitchin and FHANC alleged Shultz Investment Co. and Greenbrae Management, Inc. discriminated against the resident due…
Garbage trucks are a constant presence on city streets and highway. While they are providing a crucial civic service, these sizable vehicles are sometimes part of serious collisions. On Thursday, August 10, a garbage truck was involved in a collision with at least one other vehicle on Interstate 280, north…
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) sponsored Senate Bill 81, the Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. Both senators have spoken out about the need to protect seniors from fraud and scams. From Internet fraud to charity scams and Ponzi schemes, elderly citizens are often targeted. The intention…