Law Office of Evan Groff

[TEMPORARY CONTACT INFO. DURING MERGER] 1769 Hillsdale Avenue, #24713 San Jose, CA 95154 (408) 316-6005 Fax (Email scan to [email protected])

Cancel all prior phone numbers; now active business line is 408-316-6005Cancel all prior phone numbers; now active business line is 408-316-6005

MARRIAGE LICENSE RULES IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY; a church called recently wanting representation to fight the County forcing them (through license renewal) to marry any LGBTQ couple who approached them. They argued "anyone can marry them, why does it have to be us?". I explained the difference between a "license" and a "right", and that the County, could attach all kind of rules on your license, even if you may feel it violates your rights (because you have no 'right' to a licen...se), and referred them somewhere else. After hanging up, the question popped into my head. Certainly, the freedom of religion is a critical right that is strongly protected by our Constitution. The Supreme Court recently ruled that a religious baker was not discriminating by refusing to make a wedding cake for an LGBTQ couple, but this was partly due to some specific facts. A church may have a stronger argument than a religious person, but ultimately we still have the problem of "if a license is not a right, then denial of a license for reasons that seem to follow the policy of the law (like equal protection of LGBTQ persons) is a "rational basis" (that's the constitutional law test for laws not violating 'rights'). On the other hand, the religious freedom of expression is "a right", and the legal test is "strict scrutiny" of any law seeming to violate a right. In other words, there is no clear answer to this question. But a church fighting a County rule or regulation would be a more compelling case for the Supreme Court than some random baker's opinion on gay marriage.

CHILD CUSTODY - THE MARIJUANA QUESTION; It keeps getting asked recently, if it is legal, how come the court is testing it as if it is still a controlled substance? And why do most Judges still act like there is little tolerance for Marijuana? Really, it is not different than the law and policy on alcohol use. If you are not at your best as a parent because this is a regular part of your life, then you may not be "the better of the two" parents for the child for that reason a...lone. Some may argue that a stoned parent is a better parent than a drunk one, but this is missing the point; and hardly proves that a stoned parent is good parent. We all know, as with alcohol, that there is a big difference between "use" and a pattern that equals "addiction". If you cannot prove that you can easily go without it and do testing to prove the point, that is also a sign of "having a problem". So, despite arguments that "there is no addiction with THC", the law has not drawn any distinction. The question is should it continue to be viewed with more suspicion than alcohol? What are your thoughts on this? In all honesty, ask yourself this question; if you were a judge would you rather have a buzzed parent, or a stoned parent? Neither, but if you had to choose? This is why they are stricter on marijuana than alcohol. A stoned parent may forget for minutes that they are even watching a child. A drunk parent may fall asleep, or be less emotionally balanced, yet mostly present. While the high parent may not even finish a complete thought, and their "presence" is questionable at times. There's room to disagree on these points, but I am reflecting what the court likely thinks, and that most of us would find winning more custody more difficult with a marijuana history, possibly even than alcohol - particularly with younger children. Because of the ability to "zone out" and inability to focus, I suspect that Marijuana will continue to be treated with greater suspicion than alcohol into the future in the family courts.

A personal cause, because even minor "Asperger's"-like Autism is a troubling disability we fight daily in our personal lives .

Workers' Compensation; usually the first doctor you meet, is THIS type. If it's not, then the reforms hurt the regular doctors bad enough that they feel "screwed", regardless of your side of the field, that much is true.

A practice in Family Law, Workers' Compensation, and Social Security Disability laws, located in The Pruneyard Towers