Happy New Year to all of our readers.
Last week was a slow one for the courts. The only significant action for local governments came from the Ninth Circuit:
- The court granted rehearing en banc in Valenzuela v. Maricopa County, No. 11-16847 (Jan. 2, 2014). The case involves the constitutionality of Arizona’s Proposition 100, which provides that Arizona state courts may not set bail “[f]or serious felony offenses as prescribed by the legislature if the person charged has entered or remained in the United States illegally and if the proof is evident or the presumption great as to the present charge.” A Ninth-Circuit panel had previously upheld the measure, over a dissent from Judge Fisher.
- The court decided Alliance for Property Rights v. City of Idaho Falls, No. 12-35800 (Dec. 31, 2013). The court determined that the City of Idaho Falls, Idaho, may not exercise eminent domain outside of the City’s limits for the purpose of constructing electric-transmission lines.
- The court also amended an earlier decision in Wagner v. Maricopa County, No. 10-15501 (Dec. 30, 2013), which concerned the reasonableness of jail officers’ search of a pretrial detainee.