Michael Barba in the San Francisco Examiner reports on the request filed in the Supreme Court today to have the Court of Appeal opinion in In re Humphrey remain binding precedent pending review. The opinion, in a habeas corpus proceeding, held that a superior court order, “by setting bail in an amount it was impossible for petitioner to pay, effectively constituted a sub rosa detention order lacking the due process protections constitutionally required to attend such an order.” The Supreme Court granted review on its own motion last month.
Under a two-year-old rule change, the opinion is currently citable pending review only for its persuasive effect, but not as binding precedent in superior courts throughout California. The same new rule, however, gives the Supreme Court the authority to strengthen the opinion’s precedential effect.
