Supreme Court Watch
Government Property
BP America Production Co. v. Watson
(No. 05-669) – Whether a statute of limitations period applies to federal agency orders demanding the payment of money claimed by the agency under a lease agreement.
Construction
Crawford v. Weather Shield Mfg., Inc.
(S141541) – Whether a subcontractor can agree with a general contractor to defend the general contractor in lawsuits arising out of the negligence of others.
Contracts
Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP
(S147190) – Whether all employee non-competition provisions in employment agreements are unenforceable or only those employee non-competition provisions which prevent an employee’s pursuit of a lawful trade or business on termination of the employee.
(S121676) – Whether oral evidence can be used to clarify the ambiguities in a written agreement to provide the terms needed for an enforceable agreement.
Travis v.
(H029771) – Whether a court of appeal may decline to consider constitutional privacy claims made by a property owner challenging the application of a housing ordinance.
Defense
City of
(S141643) – Whether parents of a child who died during activities operated by the city may sue the city for gross negligence after signing an agreement releasing the city of liability.
Eminent Domain
(S132251) – Whether, in a quick-take eminent domain action, the property’s date of valuation is the date of trial or the date compensation is deposited with the court. [For RCD of (uncitable) lower court opinion click here.]
Environmental Documents
Regional Council of Rural Counties v. State of
(S138975) – Whether an environmental impact report which fails to include critical information is legally sufficient.
Save Tara v. City of
(B185656) – Whether, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a city is required to conduct an environmental impact report prior to approving the conveyance and further development of historic residential property. [For RCD of (uncitable) lower court opinion click here.]
Environmental Law
Metcalf v.
(S144831) – Whether, for a public entity to be liable for an injury caused by a hazardous condition on its property, the injured person must show the public entity wrongfully created the hazard.
Indemnity
Prince v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company
(H028957) – Whether a landowner can claim implied contractual indemnification for injury to another caused by power lines against a power company which has statutory immunity from such injury.
Land Use and Zoning
City of
(S145571) – Whether a city’s failure to give proper notice to a property owner before the city repairs or abates a nuisance invalidates the appointment of a receiver to remedy the substandard condition of the owner’s property.
Whether a receiver appointed by the city is permitted to sell or demolish substandard improvements on a property when the owner wishes to use the improvements as his family residence.
Hernandez v. City of
(S143287) – Whether an ordinance limiting furniture sales to retail stores of a minimum size in a particular commercial zone violates the equal protection rights of small retail store owners.
Manta Management Corporation v. City of
(S144492) – Whether an adult nightclub accused of allowing prostitution on its premises is entitled to be compensated by the city when the city obtains a preliminary injunction based on a zoning ordinance later declared unconstitutional.
Property Management
Cacho v. Boudreau
(S133378) – Whether a mobilehome park owner’s inclusion of property taxes in rent as a pass-through charge violates the Mobilehome Residency Law. [For RCD of lower court opinion click here.]
Fashion Valley Mall, LLC v. National Labor Relations Board
(S144753) – Whether a shopping mall owner may enforce a rule allowing individuals to protest on mall property so long as they do not boycott tenants of the mall.
Property Tax
Mayer v. L & B Real Estate
(S142211) – Whether, after the county fails to provide an owner with a notice of tax sale, the one-year statute of limitations to set aside the tax deed was suspended until the owner became aware of the tax sale.
Public Utilities
Sprint Telephony PCS v.
(S14554) – Whether a county is prevented from regulating the installation of wireless cellular facilities in a public right of way.
Recently Decided United States Supreme Court Cases
Wilkie v. Robbins
(No. 06-219) – Whether a government official acting under authority of their office can be guilty of extortion for taking property for the government’s use. [For RCD of United States Supreme Court opinion click here.]
(No. 06-562) – Whether an individual potentially responsible for the cleanup costs of contaminated property may bring an action against another potentially responsible party. [For RCD of United States Supreme Court opinion click here.]
Recently Decided
Action Apartment Association, Inc. v. City of
(S129448) – Whether a city ordinance limiting a landlord’s ability to evict a tenant is preempted by state law. [RCD of California Supreme Court opinion coming soon.]
Castaneda v. Olsher
(S138104) – Whether a mobilehome park owner has a duty to prevent the occurrence of criminal acts of gang violence on his premises when the owner has knowledge of prior gang violence on the premises. [RCD of California Supreme Court opinion coming soon.]
City of
(S143326) – Whether a county tax collector is immune to claims that it wrongfully withheld tax revenue from a local agency. [RCD of California Supreme Court opinion coming soon.]
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California v. Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc.
(S141148) – Whether, in an eminent domain action to determine the amount of compensation for a taking, rules exist for considering the probability of a re-zoning. [For RCD of California Supreme Court opinion click here.]
Muzzy Ranch Co. v.
(S131484) – Whether, for the purpose of state environmental impact law, a county’s land use plan which relocates a housing development near an Air Force base constitutes a “project.” [For RCD of California Supreme Court opinion click here.]
