courts Archives - California Globe

California’s Retroactive v. Prospective Legislation

March 8, 2022 6:49 amMarch 8, 2022 6:56 am

In most instances, legislation applies prospectively, meaning after the law has been enacted and takes effect. Nonetheless, there are times when the Legislature desires statutes to be applied retroactively, and sometimes they also specify a prospective application date. The following...

California’s Use of Statutory Construction in Statutes

July 20, 2020 6:20 amJuly 20, 2020 6:29 am

The courts in California, as well as across the country, utilize certain canons or rules of statutory construction. Essentially, statutory construction is how the courts interpret and ultimately apply the statutes or laws enacted by the state and federal legislatures....

Is There Liability for Enacting Unconstitutional Laws?

June 5, 2019 6:00 amJune 2, 2019 9:12 pm

I have occasionally been asked whether there is any recourse when the Legislature and Governor enact a law that violates the state and/or federal constitutions. Obviously, the first action would be to challenge the enacted bill in either a state...

California’s Judicial Branch of Government

March 11, 2019 6:33 amMarch 11, 2019 6:35 am

Overview Just like the federal government, California has three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. Article VI of the state constitution provides for the judicial branch of government. As we learned in our high school civics course, the judicial...

Comparing California Government to Those of Other States

February 8, 2019 5:47 amFebruary 11, 2019 6:19 am

UPDATED: California state government is not unique among the other states. All 50 states provide for a republican form of government in their individual constitutions. All of the states are based upon the federal government with three branches: legislative, executive and...