Judge Blocks California’s Fee-Shifting Provision for Gun Control Cases

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez issued an injunction Monday blocking a fee-shifting provision in SB 1327 designed to dissuade lawsuits against gun controls in California.

SB 1327 was passed by the California legislature and signed into law in response to the Texas heartbeat law. (The Texas law allows private citizens to file suits against those who perform or aid in the performance of an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.)

Judge Benitez found that SB 1327 would cause attorneys to shy away from taking cases against gun control, thereby “[discouraging] the peaceful vindication of an enumerated constitutional right.”

He wrote:

The provisions of § 1021.11 (a) would expose the attorney to the risk of joint and several liability for the government’s fees. And unlike typical fee-shifting provisions, the risk would extend for three years after the conclusion of appellate review of the original litigation, as opposed to being part of the judgment in the original litigation. California’s § 1021.11 system of litigation rewards and punishments is completely contrary to that which was intended by Congress as expressed in § 1988.

Benitez concluded: “Defendant Attorney General Rob Bonta and Intervenor-Defendant Governor Gavin Newsom, and their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with them, and those who gain knowledge of this injunction order or know of the existence of this injunction order, are enjoined from implementing or enforcing California Code of Civil Procedure § 1021.11, as enacted by S.B. 1327.”

Bill Sack, Firearms Police Coalition’s director of legal operations, reacted to Benitez’s decision, saying, “The enactment of SB 1327 was intended to do only one thing: chill the rights of the people and dissuade them from pursuing justice from tyranny. The Court made it clear today that cynical political grandstanding will not be tolerated when it infringes on the rights of the people.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) reacted to the ruling by expressing hope that it will serve to undercut the protections put in place by Texas heartbeat bill.

Newsom said: “I want to thank Judge Benitez. We have been saying all along that Texas’ anti-abortion law is outrageous. Judge Benitez just confirmed it is also unconstitutional. The provision in California’s law that he struck down is a replica of what Texas did, and his explanation of why this part of SB 1327 unfairly blocks access to the courts applies equally to Texas’ SB 8. There is no longer any doubt that Texas’ cruel anti-abortion law should also be struck down.”

The case is Miller v. Bonta, No. 3:22-cv-01446 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.