Larry Alan Burns

Poway Unified School District v. Cheng Ex Rel. Cheng

District Court, S.D. California · 2011-09-26

This case concerns whether Poway Unified School District must provide a deaf student, K.C., with word-for-word transcription services (CART) rather than meaning-for-meaning transcription (Type-Well) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to deliver a free appropriate public education (FAPE). An Administrative Law Judge ruled for the student after a due process hearing, finding the district's IEP inadequate and ordering CART services. The district court reviewed the ALJ decision under the Rowley standard, which defines FAPE as specialized instruction that confers some educational benefit, such as enabling the child to achieve passing grades and advance from grade to grade, without requiring services that maximize potential. California imposes no higher requirements, and the court addressed whether the student's academic progress with the offered services satisfied IDEA while considering cross-motions for summary judgment and remanding for further determination consistent with the opinion.

civil rights

Pringle v. DL RUNNELS

District Court, S.D. California · 2011-01-25

This case involves a federal habeas corpus petition filed by prisoner David Pringle, who sought relief based solely on a stand-alone claim of actual innocence under Herrera v. Collins after abandoning other claims. The district court had previously denied the petition as time-barred and lacking merit, and now denies Pringle's request for a certificate of appealability. The court reasoned that even assuming such a claim is viable in a non-capital case, Pringle failed to meet the extraordinarily high standard of showing he is probably innocent or that newly discovered evidence clearly establishes his innocence, given his multiple confessions (including a detailed written one naming an accomplice and later confirmed), DNA evidence implicating him, inconsistencies in his alibi, and the lack of specific explanations for recanting prior testimony. The court further noted that an evidentiary hearing was not warranted as Pringle did not sufficiently allege facts that would alter the outcome.

criminal lawprocedure

Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation v. United States Department of the Interior

District Court, S.D. California · 2010-12-15 · cited 10×

The case involves the Quechan Tribe's challenge to the Department of the Interior's approval of a large solar energy project on federal land in California's Desert Conservation Area, which the Tribe argued would destroy hundreds of cultural, religious, and archaeological sites without adequate compliance with NEPA, NHPA, and FLPMA. The Tribe sought a preliminary injunction to halt the project pending litigation. The court granted the injunction, finding serious questions on the merits regarding the agency's procedural and substantive compliance with federal law, that the balance of hardships tipped sharply in the Tribe's favor, and that irreparable harm from destruction of cultural resources was likely. The decision applied the Winter test for injunctive relief under the APA's arbitrary and capricious standard for reviewing agency actions.

environmentreligious libertycivil rightsfederal power

Easter v. CDC

District Court, S.D. California · 2010-03-09 · cited 7×

Hutton v. LAW OFFICES OF COLLINS & LAMORE

District Court, S.D. California · 2009-11-09 · cited 5×

MESA GRANDE BAND OF MISSION INDIANS v. Salazar

District Court, S.D. California · 2009-09-25 · cited 6×

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Larry Alan Burns

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Decision record