SARL Members and Alumni News

Michigan Gretchen Whitmer signs bills to limit asset forfeiture in drug cases

Law enforcement will be unable to permanently take ownership of cash and other property seized in drug cases unless certain conditions are met under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She enacted the bipartisan bills Thursday at a ceremony in the Capitol building with lawmakers, the state attorney general and others.The laws target civil asset forfeiture, a practice that critics say has been abused to fund police activities.Starting in 90 days, the laws will prohibit assets taken in suspected drug crimes from being forfeited unless the defendant is convicted or the value of the money and property is more than $50,000, excluding the value of contraband.

Inslee nixes river gravel removal; farmer 'livid'

 A proposal to protect eroding farmland in southwest Washington by taking gravel from the Lower Satsop River in Grays Harbor County was vetoed May 8 by Gov. Jay Inslee. In a veto message, Inslee said the sediment-removal project did not belong in a bill intended to supply orcas with more salmon. Inslee deleted the pilot project, along with ones in Snohomish and Whatcom counties, before signing the rest of the bill.Terry Willis, who has been losing land as gravel builds up and diverts the Satsop River, was on a tractor planting corn when she learned about the veto.“I’m livid about this,” she said. “Dumping our soil on top of fish is not the answer to saving salmon.”The pilot projects were intended to test whether removing gravel to save farms could also help fish by creating cooler pools of water and keeping shade trees from being ripped downriver. Numerous resource agencies would have been involved in planning and approving the work.

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In Trump vs. California, the state is winning nearly all its environmental cases

More than two years into the Trump presidency, California has embraced its role as chief antagonist — already suing the administration more times than Texas took President Obama to court during eight years in office.It’s having an effect.California’s lawsuits have targeted the administration’s policies on immigration, healthcare and education. But nowhere has the legal battle had a greater impact than on Trump’s agenda of dismantling Obama-era environmental and public health regulations.In its rush to delay, repeal and rewrite rules it considers unduly burdensome to industry, the administration has experienced significant setbacks in court. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in cases concerning air pollution, pesticides and the royalties that the government receives from companies that extract oil, gas and coal from public land.

Protection for pre-existing health conditions passes in Nevada

Nevada stands to become the fifth state to fully incorporate the federal Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with pre-existing conditions into state law after unanimous passage of a bill in the state Senate.Assembly Bill 170, which also sets up a procedure to help health care consumers navigate and resolve problems with insurers, was rewritten to incorporate safeguards that were originally the basis of a different Senate bill that passed earlier.The Assembly version passed on April 23 by a vote of 40-1, with Assemblywoman Robin Titus, R-Wellington, voting no. With Senate passage Tuesday, it now heads to the governor for his signature. Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks, who sponsored the earlier Senate bill and carried the Assembly rewrite on the floor Tuesday, called its passage a “huge deal”