Darren Chaker litigated a cutting edge First Amendment case for 7 of its 10 year lifespan. Chaker v. Crogan, 428 F.3d 1215 C.A.9 (Cal.),2005, Cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1128, 126 S.Ct. 2023, invalidated a statute on First Amendment grounds and overruled the California Supreme Court‘s unanimous decision in People v. Stanistreet, 127 Cal.Rptr.2d 633. Soon after Chaker v. Crogan, it was also used to strike down Nevada's analogous statute forcing the legislature to rewrite the law, but also used as the backbone authority as analyzed in Gibson v. City of Kirkland, 2009 WL 564703, *2+ (W.D.Wash. Mar 03, 2009). Chaker v. Crogan continues to be a leading case on viewpoint discrimination.
In a recent case, Chaker v. Crogan was used to vindicate people who filed a complaint against police. Those people were arrested and charged with a law Chaker v. Crogan invalidated! They sued for being arrested and charged with an unconstitutional statute, Penal Code 148.6. The federal court denied the City's motion to dismiss and the case settled. See Cuadra v. City of South San Francisco, 2010 WL 55875, *1+ (N.D.Cal. Jan 04, 2010)
The case has been cited over hundreds of times as authority, and written about extensively:
* Police Misconduct: Law and Litigation s 2:28, Denial of First Amendment rights (2009)
* Smolla & Nimmer on Freedom of Speech s 3:11, Viewpoint discrimination--Cross-burning reprised: Commonwealth of Virginia v. Black--Heavy presumption against viewpoint discrimination (2010)
* Smolla & Nimmer on Freedom of Speech s 10:22.50, Brandenburg v. Ohio: Intent and imminence standard--Bond and Watts decisions--"True threats" (2010)
* Chaker v. Crogan, 5 Cardozo Pub. L. Pol'y & Ethics J. 425, 444+ (2007)
Loving the fight, Darren Chaker made cutting edge case law in the end with a national impact. No doubt without the support of the ACLU (Ramona Ripston, Mark Rosenbaum, Peter Eliasberg, & Dan Tokaji) winning on appeal, and Joshua Rosenkranz www.orrick.com/lawyers/Bio.asp?ID=225990 assembling a small army of the best attorneys in the nationwide firm to defeat the California Attorney General's efforts to have the U.S. Supreme Court reverse the Ninth Circuit---without them--this case would not have had a backbone to stand on.
It took years of tenacity and boxes of litigation to resolve the lopsided law. In the end the court found a false complaint was never made and ordered the records destoyed. Chaker v. Crogan case is active, living and breathing—forever helping people who once felt oppressed.
In The News
- Opposition to California Attorney General's efforts to reverse Ninth Circuit decision.
- ACLU Press Release.
- Press Release by law firm that opposed in the Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.
- San Francisco News Article announcing U.S. Supreme Court denied request to hear case.
- University of San Diego School of Law, honors Darren Chaker by having senior class debate Chaker v. Crogan.
- San Diego Union-Tribune republished Associate Press article concerning U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow Chaker v. Crogan intact.
- U.S. Supreme Court notice to deny hearing Chaker v. Crogan.
Audio
The court allows roughly 15 minutes per side in most cases. Oral argument in Chaker v. Crogan lasted about two hours. Multiple attorneys representing virtually every major law enforcement organization appeared and argued. The only difference is Darren Chaker's core argument was made by Mark Rosenbaum who has appeared before the United States Supreme Court on multiple occasions and teaches constitutional law. Mark was assisted by Peter Eliasberg who also has appeared before the Supreme Court. Consequently, Mark was able to cite chapter and verse of controlling law without a single note and answered questions of the court without hesitation. It is those answers Mark provided the court molded its opinion around. Phenomenal work Mark.
In The News
Although Darren Chaker didn't appeal the decision without counsel, the fact remains he litigated the case throughout California and federal court for seven years of its ten year life span that concluded on May 15, 2006 when the United States Supreme Court denied the California Attorney General's effort to have Chaker v. Crogan struck down. Of course, a court cannot consider issues on appeal if those issues were not considered by the lower court. Read the motion filed by Darren Chaker that laid the ground work the appeal.