California has become the first state to allow state residents to choose a gender option other than male or female on official documents. This California legislative action has been a top priority among civil rights groups. Thanks to the functions of government, it will now be easier for transgender citizens to change their gender on birth certificates of driver's licenses. This change also deletes a state law requirement that an applicant must undergo treatment and submit a sworn statement from their physician before changing their gender identity. The new California legislature was signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown. The new bill, ... Read More >

The Internet is a powerful tool in today's digital world. With the click of a button, anyone can gain access to the Internet, and with the majority of the world having smartphones they can access the World Wide Web in just seconds. Gone are the days where we have to turn on the news or read a newspaper to gain perspective of what is going on in the world. Now, it seems that breaking news hits our phones before it even hits the press, and while this can be a good thing, the effects of our rapidly spreading news aren't always that great. Recently, the world has become accustomed to the idea of "fake news" -- fake stories published by ... Read More >

Bail reform has been the subject of debate in California in 2017 with the introduction of twin bills in both houses of the Legislature, Senate Bill 10 and Assembly Bill 42.  SB 10, introduced by Senator Bob Hertzberg, relating to bail and pretrial release, would “declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, and to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail.”  This measure passed the Senate in May, however its companion version, ... Read More >

Recently, the California Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling by the lower court on the controversial issue of the right of publicity that many had deemed to be dangerous for many digital giants like Facebook and Linked-In. The right of publicity, also known as personality rights, is best understood as the right of an individual to prevent their image, name, or likeness from being used in a commercial capacity. The concept has been a part of California state legislative history since the Civil Code Section 3344 was enacted in 1971, but the digital age has introduced new challenges to what is and is not considered commercial ... Read More >

Federal regulations can be incredibly complex, but the law can become even more complicated on the state level. Legislation can vary wildly depending on where you are in the nation. For more than 100 years, state courts have used the idea of legislative intent to interpret state law. Sometimes, these state rules can be confounding and downright strange. This is especially true when it comes to cannabis legislation. Many new state rules have been passed in recent years pertaining to marijuana use, businesses, and marketing. Here are five of the weirdest and wackiest marijuana laws in state legislative history. Nevada: Watch Your ... Read More >