UCI Law Students Provide Pro Bono Research for Faculty Amicus Brief in California Proposition 22 Appeal

06-15-2022

UCI Law faculty members, Richard Hasen and Mark Rosenbaum, joined other California Election Law Professors in filing an Amicus Curiae Brief in support of respondents in the case pending before the California Court of Appeals, Castellanos v. State of California.

California Prop. 22, passed in 2018, defines Uber and other app-based drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, exempting them from state labor protection laws. Drivers sued challenging Prop. 22 on constitutional grounds. The amicus brief addressed the sole issue of whether “a voter initiative legislating on one subject may constitutionally hamstring the ability of the California Legislature to pass legislation on a different but related subject.”

Two UCI Law students, Madison Gunning (’22) and Alexandra Cadena (rising 3L) contributed considerable pro bono hours of research to the brief.