M. Qader A. Baig & Associates, LLC

Civil Rights

In a prisoner civil rights action, the court denied defendant’s motion to revoke plaintiff’s in forma pauperis (IFP) status and held that the Prison Litigation Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. section 1915(g), does not bar a prisoner from receiving IFP status on appeal of his “third-strike” dismissal and does not count as a “prior occasion” for purposes of IFP eligibility under the Act.

Juvenile Law

In a juvenile action involving a mother’s spanking of her two children with a hand or sandal as a disciplinary measure, the juvenile court’s dispositional order under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 (a), (b), and (j) is reversed where mother’s rare spanking of her children, which didn’t leave marks or bruises, does not constitute the sort of “serious physical harm” required for the juvenile court to assert jurisdiction under section 300.

Family Law

In a father’s appeal from a judgment entered pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.36, selecting tribal customary adoption (TCA) as the permanent plan for his children, the juvenile court’s order is affirmed over meritless claims that: 1. the court erred in affording the TCA order full faith and credit because the Indian tribe at issue did not have subject matter jurisdiction; and 2. father was denied procedural due process.

Criminal Defense

In a criminal appeal, the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a reduction of sentence is vacated and remanded where defendant’s sentence, for distributing cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. section 841(a)(1), is eligible for resentencing under 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2).

Criminal Defense

In consolidated criminal appeals, convictions of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, 21 U.S.C. section 846, attempt to collect a debt through extortionate means, 18 U.S.C. section 894(a), and possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute it, 21 U.S.C. section 841(a)(1) are: 1) reversed as to Martinez’s conviction for conspiring to use extortionate means to collect an extension of credit, 18 U.S.C. section 894(a); but 2) otherwise affirmed over affirmed over a number of challenges to their convictions, including some that concern the District Court’s decision to try the two men together.

Family Law

In an action by a mother challenging the juvenile court’s termination of her parental rights to her children, alleging violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. section 1901 et seq., and Welfare and Institutions Code section 224 et seq., the termination order is affirmed where the juvenile court correctly ruled that the Indian tribe has the sole authority to determine its own membership and the court must defer to the membership decisions of an Indian tribe.