Thursday, April 11, 2013

LASD Responds to BCS Appeal of anti-SLAPP Ruling

In early March, BCS asked the Superior Court to dismiss the district's cross complaint using the anti-SLAPP statue.  Judge Overton rightly ruled that the cross-complaint should not be dismissed, on the grounds that it raises issues of public interest, and therefore is not subject to the anti-SLAPP statue.  (Judge Overton's ruling can be found here).

Right before spring break, we received notice that BCS filed an appeal of Judge Overton's ruling.  We notified them that this is not permissible under the law (See my blog post to discuss this here, including our letter to BCS).  Sadly, BCS has decided not to withdraw their appeal.  The District has therefore been forced to file a response to this illegal appeal by BCS.

In my previous blog post, I mentioned that this was an opportunity for BCS to demonstrate that they really are interested in dialogue, and that they aren't going to file needless litigation.  Indeed, the law specifically bars the action they've just filed.  Many times as an LASD Trustee, I've had BCS parents urge me to "follow the law" when allocating facilities.  I would ask those same folks to please reach out to the BCS board and also urge them to "follow the law".  The statues are unambiguous on this point.  Judge Overton ruled for LASD, and that ruling is not appealable.  Yet here we are, wasting time and money on something that is completely within the control of the BCS Board.

The District's response can be found here:
LASD Motion to Dismiss Appeal of Anti-SLAPP Suit 2013-04-11

(I don't have the exhibits yet, but will add them when I receive them)

Updated 23 April 2013 to add the exhibits.
Exhibits A thru D part I
Exhibits D part II - thru Exhibit I
Exhibit J thru AA