Law

The New Cold War: The Tech World Is Fighting a Costly Battle

Ross Mirkarimi Gets Prisoners to Vote

We got a little glimpse of what Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has been doing now that he's back on the job: registering inmates to vote. And why shouldn't he want this, considering it was San Francisco prisoners who vociferously backed the embattled sheriff during his domestic violence drama that nearly co ... More >>

California Family Courts Helping Pedophiles, Batterers Get Child Custody

We got a little glimpse of what Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has been doing now that he's back on the job: registering inmates to vote. And why shouldn't he want this, considering it was San Francisco prisoners who vociferously backed the embattled sheriff during his domestic violence drama that nearly co ... More >>

The Feds Bury Border Patrol Abuses of Immigrants, But What's Been Unearthed Reveals a Culture of Cruelty

We got a little glimpse of what Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has been doing now that he's back on the job: registering inmates to vote. And why shouldn't he want this, considering it was San Francisco prisoners who vociferously backed the embattled sheriff during his domestic violence drama that nearly co ... More >>

San Francisco Circumcision Ban Unconstitutional, Professor Says

Perform a brit milah, go to jail? ​San Francisco can have its proposed circumcision ban, or it can have the First Amendment. But it can't have both. That's the opinion of Peter Keane, dean emeritus at Golden Gate University School of Law and a constitutional law professor. The potential ballot mea ... More >>

Grinding Justice: Operation Streamline Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesnít Work

Perform a brit milah, go to jail? ​San Francisco can have its proposed circumcision ban, or it can have the First Amendment. But it can't have both. That's the opinion of Peter Keane, dean emeritus at Golden Gate University School of Law and a constitutional law professor. The potential ballot mea ... More >>

Do You Have First Amendment Rights in San Francisco Parks or Not?

Now valid in National Parks! Right?​Jurisdictional lines are funny things. Here in San Francisco you can hoist your banners and beat your drum to express the message of your choosing per your First Amendment Rights -- until you tread onto Ocean Beach, the Presidio, or other federal land. The Natio ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Now valid in National Parks! Right?​Jurisdictional lines are funny things. Here in San Francisco you can hoist your banners and beat your drum to express the message of your choosing per your First Amendment Rights -- until you tread onto Ocean Beach, the Presidio, or other federal land. The Natio ... More >>

Stung

Men don’t have to agree to sex in order to get busted in a prostitution sting. They just have to seem interested.

SF Weekly Letters

Men don’t have to agree to sex in order to get busted in a prostitution sting. They just have to seem interested.

A Lack of Conviction

As D.A. Kamala Harris campaigns to be attorney general, her success rate in felony trials has dropped below that of any big-city prosecutor in California.

Duck, Duck, Suit: One SF Duck Tour Sues Another Over Trademarked Quack

In November of last year, the SF Weekly published a cover story on the all-out duck fight going on between the city's rival amphibious tours, Bay Quackers and Ride the Ducks. Bay Quackers is the smaller, locally owned business that's been around about five years; Ride the Ducks belongs to ... More >>

Shoot First: Mehserle Likely Only Bay Area Cop Ever Charged With Murder for On-Duty Killing

Just like Johannes Mehserle, we can't give you a straight answer -- but the former BART police officer appears to be the first Bay Area cop to ever find himself charged with murder following a job-related shooting. Jim Chanin, a veteran Berkeley attorney who has prosecuted more than 20 police shooti ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Just like Johannes Mehserle, we can't give you a straight answer -- but the former BART police officer appears to be the first Bay Area cop to ever find himself charged with murder following a job-related shooting. Jim Chanin, a veteran Berkeley attorney who has prosecuted more than 20 police shooti ... More >>

Top 10 Protest Signs at No on 8 March

Just like Johannes Mehserle, we can't give you a straight answer -- but the former BART police officer appears to be the first Bay Area cop to ever find himself charged with murder following a job-related shooting. Jim Chanin, a veteran Berkeley attorney who has prosecuted more than 20 police shooti ... More >>

Train Wreck

Major public transit agencies around the country — including San Francisco's — may pay billions for risky deals with bankers.

Double Bogey

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

First Offender Prostitution Program Punishes Victimless Crime

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Gus Fallay Beats Bribery Rap, Wants Old Job Back at SF Department of Building Inspection

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

District Attorney Files Criminal Charges Against Supervisor Ed Jew

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Open-air Crack Market

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Stained Rep

Muni's bogus tax shelter and theGuardian's bogus lawsuit.

Boycott Feinstein

A new proposed law would put activists in jail for hurting a company's bottom line

I Wish I'd Written That

Deceased journalist Joe Dignan led coverage of California's movement toward gay equal rights

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Let It Bleed

Prosecutors' reluctance to charge murder suspects in S.F. leaves alleged killers on the street, flush with bravado

Legal Pirouette

Marin County DA Ed Berberian switches his office's position, agreeing to Catholic Church demands to withhold sex-abuse documents from the press

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, February 9, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Week of February 2, 2005

Zipped Up

S.F. Archbishop William Levada doesn't want the public to know about decades of alleged sexual misconduct by his clerics. But why are district attorneys in San Mateo, Marin, and San Francisco helping him keep secrets?

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, February 11, 2004

The Tax Man Cometh

The federal government looks to eliminate abusive tax shelters, and it may cost San Francisco tens of millions of dollars

Case Study: Ludrate Burton

A jailhouse "snitch" fingered Burton for murder

Innocence Arrested

Albert Johnson was exonerated for a crime he didn't commit, but not before spending over a decade in prison. Why guiltless people get jailed -- and how to stop it.

Sounds of Silence

ASCAP's legal threats kill a thriving local music scene

Kamala's Karma

She's smart, she's experienced, and she's running for DA. But she's Willie Brown's ex-girlfriend, and her opponents are trying to crucify her for that.

Son of Super Swindler

The unsettling link between a group of firms that sell financial planning services to elderly Californians and one of the most notorious con men in U.S. history

Gimme Shelters

After mortgaging our future in an orgy of budget-related borrowing, the Legislature hatches new orgiastic plans: sleazy tax shelters

Letters to the Editor

Week of July 2, 2003

Prosecutors' Patience Wears Thin With Levada, Mahony

Week of July 2, 2003

Big Doctor Is Watching

As of April 14, the national security police can monitor your medical records without your knowledge. So can the local police.

Girl, Interrupted

Alanna Krause believes that much of her hellish childhood could have been avoided. Now she's suing her father, her therapist, and her lawyer in an effort to prove it. How did it come to this?

The Ghost of Scandals Past

Previous "creative financing" debacles should haunt city officials who've approved a risky $1 billion lease of Muni streetcars

Law and Borders

Prosecutors, judges, governors, a sex offender, and a woman with a penchant for poor judgement entangle California and Texas in an epic child custody war with two sure losers -- aged 7 and 9.

The Dilemma of Sara Jane Olson

With an October trial in the offing, prosecutors had every intention of proving that Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson was a domestic terrorist who helped plant bombs under police cars 26 years ago.

Smoke and Smearers

Potheads distort the record -- and endanger the justice system -- as they try to recall the Marin DA

Full Court Fathers

They're young, poor, unmarried fathers -- but don't call them deadbeat dads. They want to be part of their kids' lives, and Oakland's Midnight Basketball League is helping them do it.

Patent Fight Pending

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

The Prosecution Rests ... and Rests

After nearly 2 1/2 years, the embezzlement case against a Fire Department supervisor has still gone nowhere, and no end is in sight

Girl Problems

The juvenile justice system is ignoring delinquent girls -- and creating a social time bomb