On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinion in County of Butte v. Department of Water Resources and People v. Henson. (Briefs here; oral argument videos here and here.)
These will be the last of five opinions for cases argued on the early-May calendar. That will leave 15 cases in the summer pipeline.
When the court granted review in County of Butte (for a second time) and depublished the Third District Court of Appeal’s opinion in December 2019, it limited the issues to: “1. To what extent does the Federal Power Act preempt application of the California Environmental Quality Act when the state is acting on its own behalf, and exercising its discretion, in deciding to pursue licensing for a hydroelectric dam project? 2. Does the Federal Power Act preempt state court challenges to an environmental impact report prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act to comply with the federal water quality certification under section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act?”
In Henson, the court is expected to decide the question, when a defendant is held to answer following separate preliminary hearings on charges brought in separate complaints, can the People file a unitary information covering the charges in both those cases or must they obtain the trial court’s permission to consolidate the pleadings? (See Pen. Code, §§ 949, 954.) The court granted review over three years ago, in January 2019.
The opinions can be viewed Monday starting at 10:00 a.m.