Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Desimone v. County of Los Angeles (Cal. Ct. App. - March 10, 2008)

I usually don't comment about -- or, truthfully, even read all of the -- unpublished opinions by the Court of Appeal. There are simply too many of them.

But this one is so cool to require at least brief mention.

First, who knew that those little tracking devices the police put on your car can catch fire and burn your house (or garage) down?! Wow. You learn something new every day.

Second, who knew that the Public Corruption Unit up in L.A. actually takes seriously where elected officials in fact live? It's an open secret that more than a few politicians don't actually reside where they claim to live -- a place in which they "reside" solely for the purpose of running in that district. But usually there's just a nod and a wink about actually enforcing those rules, at least as far as the police are concerned.

I'm psyched to see actual police work -- i.e., installation of surveillance devices pursuant to a warrant --performed to root out this problem. Deliberate and well-known violations of the law by public officials isn't something on which I'm especially keen.