On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinions in California Building Industry Association v. State Water Resources Control Board, People v. Perez, Jr., and People v. Reed. (Briefs here; oral argument videos here and here.) These are the last three opinions in February calendar cases.
California Building raises these issues: (1) Does Water Code section 181 permit the State Water Resources Control Board to approve its annual fee under the waste discharge permit program by a majority of the quorum? (2) Does Proposition 26 apply to the waste discharge permit program fee? (3) Does the Board have the initial burden of demonstrating the validity of its fee? (4) Is the fee, which is based on balancing the fees and costs of the waste discharge permit program, an invalid tax unless it separately balances the fees and costs of each of the eight program areas within the program? (Fourth District, Division One, Court of Appeal Justice Terry O’Rourke is the pro tem.)
In Perez, the court will decide whether the Court of Appeal erred when it failed to defer to the trial court’s factual finding that defendant did not use a deadly weapon during his previous assault and was therefore eligible for resentencing under the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (Pen. Code, § 1170.126)? (First District, Division Four, Court of Appeal Justice Jon Streeter is the pro tem.)
Reed is an automatic direct appeal from a September 1999 judgment of death. (Fifth District Court of Appeal Justice Rosendo Peña, Jr., is the pro tem.)
The opinions can be viewed Monday starting at 10:00 a.m.
