Editor's note, 2 p.m.: We have added a Scribd version of the Dec. 7 CASE court filing to the end of this post.
California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment filed a letter brief last week with San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal.The union's aim: convince the justices to return a so-called "special funds" case to the trial court with "directions to reconsider its ruling in light of the (California) Supreme Court's decision."
CASE attorney Patrick Whalen's 13-page letter is a response to a Nov. 22 brief filed by the Schwarzenegger administration that argues for killing the case.
Whalen contends that the high court's ruling in PECG v. Schwarzenegger, which said the state Legislature tacitly approved furloughs by assuming payroll savings from the policy in its budget actions, left open many questions that need to be hashed out in the lower court.
CASE makes these arguments:
+ The PECG decision didn't take into account Government Code 16310. (Click here to read the law.)
+ Some furloughed agencies and departments are truly independent and aren't subject to appropriations in budget legislation. (See pages 6 to 8 of the brief, posted below, for examples.)
+ The third monthly day added in July 2009 wasn't approved by the budget revision legislation passed at the time. (See page 9.)
+ The timing of legislation that authorized furloughs calls the legality of some specific furlough dates into question, including the first "Furlough Friday," Feb. 6, 2009.
We have Scribd the CASE letter brief below. You can scroll through it there or click the link at the top of the display to download a PDF of the document.
This link opens the administration's Nov. 22 argument that the special funds case was covered by the PECG decision. It's essentially the same reasoning that Schwarzenegger attorney David Tyra has applied to other furlough cases that are in appellate courts.
CASE 12/7/10 Letter Brief to the 1st District Court of Appeal
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