The Supreme Court today announced its November calendar.  There are six cases to be argued, including one — Johnson v. California Department of Justice — in which the court has already signaled that it might overrule one of its own opinions.  Because there is still a vacancy on the court, each of the six cases will have a different Court of Appeal justice sitting by assignment, none of whom has been announced yet.  By our count, this will bring to 45 the number of cases with pro tems since Justice Kennard left the court in April.  [Update:  It will be 45 cases, but 44 pro tems.  Two of the November cases are related and will have the same pro tem.  See below.]

On November 3, in Sacramento, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as stated on the court’s website):

Richey v. Autonation, Inc.:  (1) Is an employer’s honest belief that an employee was violating company policy or abusing medical leave a complete defense to the employee’s claim that the employer violated the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act (Gov. Code §§ 12945.1, 12945.2)?  (2) Was the decision below to vacate the arbitration award in the employer’s favor consistent with the limited judicial review of arbitration awards?

Johnson v. California Department of Justice:  Do the equal protection principles of People v. Hofsheier (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1185 bar mandatory sex offender registration for a defendant convicted of oral copulation between a “person over the age of 21 years” and a “person who is under 16 years of age” (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (b)(2))?  The court asked for supplemental briefing on these questions:  Should the court overrule People v. Hofsheier (2006) 37 Cal.4th 1185?  Among the subsidiary questions counsel may wish to address are the following:  1. What level of equal protection scrutiny applies to the statutory difference in sex offender registration requirements between those convicted of violating Penal Code section 288a and those convicted of violating Penal Code section 261.5?  2. Has Hofsheier presented practical difficulties of application in the trial and appellate courts?  3. Has Hofsheier been extended beyond the sex offender registration context in ways that could not have been anticipated at the time of the decision?  4. Absent the limitations on Hofsheier‘s application asserted in People v. Manchel (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 1108, the validity of which is challenged in the present case, what principles, if any, constrain the application of Hofsheier?  5. Does Hofsheier‘s equal protection analysis logically extend beyond the context of sex offender registration?  6. If Hofsheier‘s holding is overruled, would and should the court’s decision apply retroactively to offenders who have been convicted or released from custody since the decision in Hofsheier without registration orders or who have obtained relief by writ petition from preexisting registration requirements?

Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, Inc.:  Are the guards that defendants provide for construction site security entitled to compensation for all nighttime “on call” hours, or may defendants deduct sleep time depending on the structure of the guards’ work shifts?

Hudec v. Superior Court:  Does Penal Code section 1026.5, subdivision (b)(7), give a person who was committed after being found not guilty of criminal charges by reason of insanity the right to refuse to testify in a proceeding to extend that civil commitment?

People v. Trujillo:  Does the failure to object to an order for payment of a presentence investigation fee and/or an order for payment of probation supervision fees forfeit a claim that the trial court erred in failing to make a finding of the defendant’s ability to pay the amount in question?  (See also People v. Aguilar, S213571.)

People v. Aguilar:  Does the failure to object to an order for payment of attorney fees, an order for payment of a criminal justice administration fee, and/or an order for payment of probation supervision fees forfeit a claim that the trial court erred in failing to make a finding of the defendant’s ability to pay the amount in question?  (See also People v. Trujillo, S213687.)

[October 10 update:

Here are the pro tems, as listed on the court’s first amended calendar.

Richey v. Autonation, Inc.:  Third District Court of Appeal Justice Elena Duarte.

Johnson v. California Department of Justice:  Sixth District Court of Appeal Justice Franklin Elia.

Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, Inc.:  Fourth District, Division Three, Justice Richard Fybel.

Hudec v. Superior Court:  Second District, Division Four, Presiding Justice Norman Epstein.

People v. Trujillo and People v. Aguilar:  Fifth District Justice Donald Franson, Jr.]