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Author: Richard Jaffe

How significant is yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision in South Bay Pentecostal Church v. Newsom?

How significant is yesterday’s Supreme Court’s decision in South Bay Pentecostal Church v. Newsom?

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Short answer: not very. Longer and more nuanced answer: the decision sets no precedent, but it does reaffirm long-standing precedent back to our old friend (or enemy) Jacobson, that judges are reluctant to second-guess public health decisions made during public health crises by state and local officials, because it is their job to make such decisions and they are accountable to the public via elections. What did the Supreme Court do? Yesterday, May 29th, the Supreme Court denied a California…

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Ken Stoller Case Update

Ken Stoller Case Update

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Here is the latest onthe case and a couple other things going on in California on the medical exemption issue https://gogetfunding.com/blog-single-update/?blogpre=6408571&single=50914 Rick Jaffe, Esq.

Contact tracing: some analysis, perspective, and a conditional prediction

Contact tracing: some analysis, perspective, and a conditional prediction

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The vaccine concerned and many others are worried about contact tracing, so for whatever it’s worth, here are some initial thoughts. First, let’s get on the same page. Last month, the CDC published information about it. Here it is: “Certain core principles of contact tracing must always be adhered to: • Contact tracing is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection. • In contact tracing, public health staff work with a patient to help them…

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Breaking News (and some welcome push back from a State Supreme Court and Elon Musk)

Breaking News (and some welcome push back from a State Supreme Court and Elon Musk)

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Two significant things happened today. Alameda Country appeared to back down and allow Tesla to reopen its plant after Elon Musk threatened to move his business out of state. Good for him and good for Tesla. Hopefully it will all work out, worker health-wise. Second, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has just overturned the extension of the Governor’s stay-at-home order. I haven’t read the opinion yet, but it does cite (or a justice said) with disapproval, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Korematsu…

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Ken Stoller’s Medical Board Hearing Update/It’s still scheduled for June 8th, but…..

Ken Stoller’s Medical Board Hearing Update/It’s still scheduled for June 8th, but…..

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Maybe coming to your home soon! Here is what is going on: https://gogetfunding.com/blog-single-update/?blogpre=6408571&single=49782 Rick Jaffe, Esq.

Will Your Child’s Cali. Medical Exemption Be Good When Schools Reopen in the Fall?

Will Your Child’s Cali. Medical Exemption Be Good When Schools Reopen in the Fall?

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I have been getting that question a lot lately. It is understandable with all that is going on. The answer is that I don’t know and I don’t think anyone can know for three reasons. First, Senator Pan had to give-up some important ground at the end of the last session, via SB 714 which watered down some of SB 276’s more onerous provisions. The biggest problem (from the regulators’ point of view) with the current SB276/714 law is that…

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More on what governments can get away with in these COVID-19 times

More on what governments can get away with in these COVID-19 times

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Some of my FB friends have asked me to write something about the spate of government orders about social distancing, closures of state parks and beaches, constitutional rights to congregate and associate in public, requiring masks when in stores, and mandatory testing (which I will deal with another time). A few of these issues are simple, but most are not. Whatever else, this pandemic has certainly provided a real-time lesson on federalism, the essence of which is a shared/sometimes overlapping…

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What Could Be Next in the California Legislative Vaccine Front

What Could Be Next in the California Legislative Vaccine Front

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Supposedly, the legislative session is going to restart on May 4th. But whenever it continues, I would expect Senator Pan and his allies to clean-up and fix the slippage which resulted from SB 714’s amendment of SB 276, and to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there is not a vaccine for the disease right now, there surely will be, in a year to eighteen months as is the general (possibly) optimistic estimate, or maybe even sooner. Because it…

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Some perspective on President Trump’s call for off-label use of Hydroxychloroquine

Some perspective on President Trump’s call for off-label use of Hydroxychloroquine

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The President is getting a lot of flak for basically telling COVID-19 patients to try Hydroxychloroquine or as he has put it, “What do you have to lose.” The criticism from the medical establishment is that the drug is not proven safe or effective for COVID-19. That is true, but it’s not the whole story. Most people are or have recently become familiar with the concept of “off label” use, but I suspect few really understand some important aspects of…

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To all you Yahoos who think you have a constitutional right to congregate during a pandemic

To all you Yahoos who think you have a constitutional right to congregate during a pandemic

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The short of it is that you don’t. For at least the last few hundred years, the law has recognized the government’s responsibility to protect the public health via its police powers. That job primarily falls to the states under the 10th Amendment, which provides that all powers not expressly granted to the federal government resides in the states. There are many cases where state and the federal government have been allowed to lock-up people considered dangerous to the health,…

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