California Suits

Nobody likes car taxes, particularly in California, where high sales taxes, tough licensing fees and steep insurance rates make the cost of operating a car particularly onerous. So the Legislature surely thought it found the perfect new car tax in 1990 when it enacted the smog-impact fee. It's a $300-per-car levy that folks moving into the Golden State have to pay for the privilege of registering a vehicle here.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that public school officials may not unilaterally expel handicapped children, even if they are violent or disruptive. The child's parents, "or, as a last resort, the courts," must agree before a disabled or retarded student may be removed from his school, the high court declared.

State Controller Kathleen Connell on Thursday denounced a lawsuit filed by a group of retail tobacconists who are seeking to halt the implementation of Proposition 10--the initiative approved by voters in November to raise cigarette and tobacco taxes.

Kevin Dimmick has withstood a two-year federal court battle to display his HIV-positive status on the back of his Harley. The 42-year-old Kensington man sued the state Department of Motor Vehicles in 1996 after it refused to approve his application for a motorcycle license plate that read "HIV POS," saying it could be considered offensive. After the victory, Dimmick picked up his new license plate Friday. Dimmick, who now has AIDS, ran a support group for heterosexuals called Positive Support.

Parents cannot hold the state liable for inaccurate or incomplete results from mandatory health screening for newborns, even if errors lead to severe disabilities in children, the California Supreme Court held Monday. The ruling, the court's first on a program that tests hundreds of thousands of newborns in California each year, came in a case brought by the family of Sierra Creason, 7, who must use a wheelchair, has severe lung problems and mental retardation.

BankAmerica Corp. agreed Thursday to pay $187.5 million to settle a lawsuit by the state of California, the city of San Francisco and other local governments that claimed the bank fraudulently mishandled municipal bond accounts. BankAmerica, the biggest U.S. bank since its $40-billion merger with NationsBank Corp. in September, said it will distribute the money among 300 plaintiffs, based on a formula it will present to San Francisco Superior Court next month.

When the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark 1982 decision on the right of illegal immigrant children to attend public schools, one of the civil rights attorneys who handled the case was in the jungles of Nicaragua. "We were huddled 'round a two-way radio, listening to the BBC," recalls Peter Schey, who was part of a team investigating human rights abuses by Contra rebels. "When we heard the ruling, I whooped for joy."

In the latest challenge to the federal welfare overhaul, activists have filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking California's rules for dispensing food stamp benefits to millions of residents, especially those guidelines targeting legal immigrants. Poverty lawyers say the "confusing, misleading and erroneous" implementation scheme put into place last month left counties without proper guidance, broke California's own regulatory guidelines and may result in people being wrongly denied benefits.

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday decided to sue the state to delay the transfer of 75 forensic patients to Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona. The plan has drawn cries of protest from neighbors, who fear that the patients--mentally disabled people who have been charged with crimes but deemed incompetent to stand trial--pose a safety threat.

Fearing that a drastic reduction in business that would irreparably damage the economic viability of the 91 Express Lanes, the road's owner filed a suit against state transportation officials Friday to permanently block additional free lanes. The suit alleges that a Caltrans project involving a new 3.3-mile freeway stretch beside the congested road directly violates the 1990 franchise agreement for the express lanes.