November 8, 2007 Ninth Circuit Decisions
On November 8, 2007, the Ninth Circuit issued three published decisions:
In Alaska v. EEOC, the Ninth Circuit dismissed as barred by the 11th Amendment a suit brought by two former employees of the Alaska Governor’s office. The Court found that GERA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-16a, et seq., was enacted without findings by Congress of the existence of state discrimination against employees who are personal staff of elected officials, a class previously exempted from discrimination law protections. The lack of findings results in the inability to find that GERA was a proportionate response to an identified evil.
In Khaligh v. Hadaegh, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Khaligh v. Hadeagh, 338 B.R. 817 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 2006), for the reasons stated in that opinion.
In U.S. v. Gamboa-Cardenas, the Ninth Circuit held that “safety valve relief,” which allows a reduced sentence for certain offenses where the defendant meets specific criteria, does not apply to the offense of possession with intent to distribute cocaine while aboard a vessel. The Court rejected the argument that the government was estopped to argue the safety valve did not apply to the offense as to three defendants, two of whom raised it for the first time on a appeal, and the third who failed to show detrimental reliance. However, the Court found that Gamboa-Victoria had failed to exercise his right to testify at trial in reliance upon the government’s assurance that the safety valve would apply.
