The high-profile bail case, In re Humphrey, headlines the Supreme Court’s January calendar, announced today.  It will be the first oral arguments for Justice Martin Jenkins as a permanent member of the court.

The January calendar, like all arguments since April and for the foreseeable future, will be remote and based in San Francisco (see here, here, and here).

On January 5, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as summarized by court staff or stated by the court itself):

In re Humphrey:

  1. When the court granted review in May 2018,  it limited the issues to, “(1) Did the Court of Appeal err in holding that principles of constitutional due process and equal protection require consideration of a criminal defendant’s ability to pay in setting or reviewing the amount of monetary bail?  (2) In setting the amount of monetary bail, may a trial court consider public and victim safety?  Must it do so?  (3) Under what circumstances does the California Constitution permit bail to be denied in noncapital cases?  Included is the question of what constitutional provision governs the denial of bail in noncapital cases-article I, section 12, subdivisions (b) and (c), or article I, section 28, subdivision (f)(3), of the California Constitution-or, in the alternative, whether these provisions may be reconciled.”
  2. The court later asked for additional briefing regarding the “effect, if any,” of then-new pretrial detention legislation, Senate Bill 10, that the Legislature passed to change California’s pretrial detention scheme by substituting a risk based analysis for money bail in determining when a person can be released from custody.  That bill never became law, however, because the voters blocked it in a referendum last month.
  3. Just a few months ago, the court took the rare step of restoring, pending review, the precedential effect of part of the Court of Appeal’s landmark opinion that held, “unquestioning reliance upon the bail schedule without consideration of a defendant’s ability to pay, as well as other individualized factors bearing upon his or her dangerousness and/or risk of flight, runs afoul of the requirements of due process for a decision that may result in pretrial detention.”  The Supreme Court had earlier declined to make such an order, which makes the appellate court opinion binding on all the state’s superior courts.
  4. The petitioner in the case — Kenneth Humphrey — was profiled in the Mercury News last month.

Brown v. USA Taekwondo:  What is the appropriate test that minor plaintiffs must satisfy to establish a duty by defendants to protect them from sexual abuse by third parties?  (See Rowland v. Christian (1969) 69 Cal.2d 108; Nally v. Grace Community Church (1988) 47 Cal.3d 278; Regents of the University of California v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 607; Doe v. United States Youth Soccer Association (2017) 8 Cal.App.5th 1118; Conti v. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 1214; Juarez v. Boy Scouts of America, Inc. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 377.)  The court granted review in January.  [Horvitz & Levy represents USA Taekwondo in the Supreme Court.]

Smith v. LoanMe, Inc.:  Does Penal Code section 632.7 prohibit only third-party eavesdroppers from recording calls involving a cellular or cordless telephone, or does it also prohibit participants in calls from recording them without the other participants’ consent?  The court granted review in April.

Villanueva v. Fidelity National Title Co.:  The court limited the issues to, “(1) Insurance Code section 12414.26 provides:  ‘No act done, action taken, or agreement made pursuant to the authority conferred by Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 12401) or Article 5.7 (commencing with Section 12402) of this chapter shall constitute a violation of or grounds for prosecution or civil proceedings under any other law of this state heretofore or hereafter enacted which does not specifically refer to insurance.’  Does this statute provide immunity to an underwritten title company for charging consumers for services for which there have been no rate filings with the Insurance Commissioner?  Stated otherwise, by charging unfiled rates, did Fidelity act ‘pursuant to the authority conferred by Article 5.5?’  (2) Does the Insurance Commissioner have exclusive jurisdiction over any action against an underwritten title company for services charged to the consumer, but not disclosed to the Department of Insurance?”  The court granted review in December 2018.

In re A.R.:  The court limited the issues to, “1. Does a parent in a juvenile dependency case have the right to challenge her counsel’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal from an order terminating her parental rights under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26?  (See Welf. & Inst. Code, § 317.5, subd. (a); In re Kristin H. (1996) 46 Cal.App.4th 1635 [ineffective assistance of counsel claim in dependency proceeding brought on a petition for writ of habeas corpus].)  2. If so, what are the proper procedures for raising such a claim?”  The court granted review in May.

Kaanaana v. Barrett Business Services Inc.:  The court limited the issue to, “Whether the phrase ‘work done for irrigation, utility, reclamation, and improvement districts, and other districts of this type’ in Labor Code section 1720, subdivision (a)(2) of California’s Prevailing Wage Law (Labor Code §§1720 et. seq.) should be interpreted to cover any type of work regardless of its nature, funding, purpose or function, including belt sorting at recycling facilities.”  (Link added.)  The court granted review in February 2019.