Constitutional Law

Trapped in the Tunnel: Passengers on Stalled Trains Have Few Rights

UC Regents Give Local Photojournalist David Morse $162K in Settlement

University of California Regents, in a civil rights lawsuit settlement agreement announced today, will shell out $162,500 to David Morse, an independent photojournalist who was arrested by UC Berkeley police while covering a student demonstration more than two years ago. In that demonstration, on ... More >>

The Gay Selma: Schools Ignore Gay Bullying at Their Own Peril

But, the Children: Save California Denounces Harvey Milk Day

George Gascón Lauds Feds' Discrimination Suit Against Sheriff Joe Arpaio

The Department of Justice today took the unusual step of suing a sitting U.S. sheriff. Joe Arpaio, the infamous sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., is charged with years of systematically discriminating against Latinos and using the power of his office to retaliate against critics. This paragrap ... More >>

Obama Comes Out for Gay Marriage -- Finally

It seems those many trips to San Francisco this year have convinced President Barack Obama that gays should be allowed to tie the knot. News reports of the president's reversal on same-sex marriage is making rounds in the blogosphere this afternoon, and for good reason: It's about damn time!Acc ... More >>

Arthouse Movie Listings February 15-21, 2012

Prop. 8 Appeals Court Ruling: Inside the Dissenting Opinion

​Same-sex marriage advocates rejoiced today as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's 2010 decision that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative banning gay marriage, is unconstitutional.The decision is almost certainly destine ... More >>

S.F. Civil Liberties Group Wants Feds to Stop Being So Secretive about Drones

​The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the U.S. Department of Transportation, claiming that the feds are withholding important details about drones -- the unmanned aircraft used in the military --  and under what circumstances public and private entities be allowed to use them. Accordin ... More >>

Appeals Court Judges Grill Arpaio's Lawyer on Alleged First Amendment Violations

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio​An 11-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had some tough questions today for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's lawyer about why "America's Toughest Sheriff" should be exempt from a lawsuit claiming he violated an Arizona ... More >>

Occupy SF Prepares for Police Raid Tonight

Kate CongerIs San Francisco next?​Update (5:45 p.m.): Department of Health officials led reporters through the encampment this evening as they inspected the area for violations. SF Weekly's Lauren Smiley says that Barbara Garcia, the director of the city's Health  Department, claims the toile ... More >>

Judge Grants Feds Access to Twitter Accounts as Part of WikiLeaks Investigation

Only you and the government know your passwords​In a major blow to Internet privacy, a district court judge ruled today that federal investigators were allowed to collect private records of three Twitter users as part of their investigation related to WikiLeaks.According to the Electronic Frontier ... More >>

What Women Want: Mayor Ed Lee

Women love that mustache ​So far nobody has been able to convince Mayor Ed Lee to give up his higher paying gig as the City Administrator and run for mayor in November. And with the Aug. 12 filing deadline just around the corner, the Run, Ed, Run campaign is unleashing a group that they hope will ... More >>

Supreme Court Shoots Down State Ban on Violent Videogames

Keep shooting, kids​Kids can continue to legally play ultraviolent videogames after the Supreme Court ruled this morning that California cannot restrict kids from buying or renting the shooting games.  The court voted 7-2 that such a ban, which was spearheaded by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Franci ... More >>

SF Weekly Owners Allowed to Sue the Prosecutor Who Ordered Them Jailed

Is America's toughest sheriff now America's most relieved?​Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey, principal owners of SF Weekly's parent company, are permitted to sue the Phoenix special prosecutor who in 2007 had them arrested and jailed on bogus charges, a San Francisco appeals court has ruled.However, a ... More >>

Metal Detectors, ID Scans at S.F. Nightclubs up for Debate

Can't we have fun without killing each other?San Francisco is considering draconian safety measures at night clubs, including metal detectors and ID scans -- not even Oakland does that!Although Jocelyn Kane, executive director of the Entertainment Commission, tells SF Weekly that it's unlikely such ... More >>

Ross Mirkarimi Wants To Stop FBI's Monitoring of Muslims

Look! Now they're going out to the movies! It's all part of a nefarious plot, I tell you! ​Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced a resolution this week asking his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to endorse a Human Rights Commission report that shows law enforcement is consistently racial pro ... More >>

Judge Says TSA Doesn't Have to Turn Over Body Scan Images to Civil Liberties Group

TSA Doesn't Want to Reveal What It's Revealing​As it turns out, when Big Brother is watching he doesn't have to reveal what he sees.In the latest chapter of TSA v. The rest of America, a federal judge ruled that the Transportation Security Administration doesn't have to turn over the 2,000 images ... More >>

Lawsuit: S.F. Cop Beats Oakland Man, Threatens to Hospitalize Him if He Returns to S.F.

​San Francisco cops raided a party, bashed a bystander's face on the floor, then took him to jail and told him, "You should stay in Oakland and never come to S.F. again... Next time you come to S.F. I will put you in the hospital." That's the claim made in a lawsuit filed in Oakland federal court ... More >>

Federal Judge Supports Ranked Choice Voting in San Francisco

​A federal judge has rejected efforts by former supervisorial candidate Ron Dudum to put a halt to San Francisco's "ranked-choice" system of voting, dismissing the argument by Dudum and other plaintiffs that the process is unconstitutional.In a 19-page written ruling delivered Friday, U.S. Distric ... More >>

Civil Rights, Transit Advocates Urge BART to Abandon Half-Billion Dollar Airport Connector

The community groups whose advocacy led to the federal government threatening to withhold $70 million from a planned BART connector to Oakland Airport moments ago made their case that the project is a costly boondoggle that does nothing for the poor and minority communities living near the airport ... More >>

National Rifle Association recruits San Franciscans to overturn gun-control laws

SF Gov InAction: The Supes Have SUCH Good Intentions This Week That One of These Laws Just HAS to Work!

Monday, Aug 17 11 a.m. - Public Safety Committee A lot's happened to the Public Safety Committee since the last time I wrote about it -- and there's one thing I just don't understand. Ross Mirkarimi used to be the chair of the Public Safety Committee, and he was exceptional at pulling the many t ... More >>

Roto-Nerds of the World Rejoice as Fantasy Football Site Spikes NFL in Court

Can you imagine paying licensing fees to use Alex Smith's stats?Aficionados of Pleistocene-era sports video games may remember how "Player No. 16" on the nameless San Francisco team with crimson uniforms was really good -- but the lack of licensing fees forbade any notion of the terms "Joe Montana," ... More >>

Bobby Badfingers' snappy jailhouse comeback

The People vs. BART police

California Cities and Same-Sex Couples Join SF's Prop. 8 Challenge

By Lauren SmileyThe San Francisco city attorney filed an amended petition (note: PDF file) challenging the constitutionality of Prop. 8 in the state Supreme Court Wednesday, adding seven same-sex married couples and 11 more cities and counties as parties. The amended filing also argues that Prop. 8 ... More >>

Go Ahead, Make Her Day

Angelina Jolie takes on a serial killer and the system in Clint Eastwood's latest.

Protest Staple

The Price of Free Speech Rises

Exotic Erotic Ball Couches Tits as Freedom: Get Real! ... about Freedom (not Tits; fake Tits are fine)

Torture Flick Rendition' Makes Us Water-Bored

ADA Lawsuit Factory in SF

Wheelchairs of Fortune

Attorney Tom Frankovich and his disabled clients sue small businesses to make them accessible - and make millions

Fun with Trial Transcripts

Boomtastrophe

Baby Boomers hoped to die before they got old. They lied. And now they’re dragging the whole country down.

Earl’s Last Laugh

Exiled in retirement after Fajitagate, ex–Police Chief Earl Sanders has re-emerged with a fresh account of the infamous Zebra murders. And his critics are on the warpath.

Suffer the Little Muslims

A look at the appalling discrimination against Middle Eastern students countenanced by Bay Area public schools

Got MLK?

A day to remember

Looking Ahead

Aides insist that Mayor Gavin Newsom is focused on City Hall; his sudden celebrity has spawned speculation about higher office. Much higher.

As a Matter of Fat

The city's new weight discrimination law is badly reasoned, legally defective, costly, and bad for public health

Patent Fight Pending

When a company sues a notorious critic for infringement, is it just business or intimidation?

SF Weekly Wins Newsrack Injunction

Make Art, Not War

Attorney helps artists fight restrictions on street sales

Unspun

Tense Alliance

A conversation with the makers of Blacks and Jews, a highlight of the 17th annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

Fewer Pen Pals

As more prisons move to ban skin mags, California prisoners' rights lawyers turn a deaf ear to inmates' howls

Rounding Up the Usual Sospechosos

Alleged misconduct by INS agents has activists in the Latino community angry

Laboratory Rats

Achtenberg's Third Act

Roberta Achtenberg bristles when anyone dares say that Williw Brown is the one who gets things done. "I have gotten things done my entire life, right?" she says, citing when her accomplishments as a law school dean, her 800-page book on sexual orientatio