The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California also claims detainees do not have appropriate clothing for the chilly desert nights, nor appropriate medical attention for life-threatening conditions.
The ruling turned on a 1995 law that sought to create consequences for false claims against police officers: Anyone filing a complaint against an officer could face criminal charges if they knowingly sign a false report.
“It seems apparent that the Legislature does not intend for such criminal penalties to be imposed except as a last resort, in the most egregious circumstances,” wrote the decision’s author, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero.
Local media have reported the detention of at least two dozen other people on the grounds of California court buildings in Stanislaus, Glenn, Los Angeles and Fresno counties, and NPR reports federal immigration detentions in state courthouses across the country.
The California Supreme Court handed down two decisions last week that could impact decades of sentencing for gang-related offenses and allow thousands of people to petition courts to reexamine their cases.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California’s first-in-the-nation law requiring background checks for ammunition purchases, another blow to the state’s gun control framework that has been pared down, case by case, since
