Matthew Pappas
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Matthew Pappas | |
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| Born | May 31, 1967 Los Angeles |
| Alma mater | Western State University College of Law |
| Occupation | Civil Rights Attorney |
Matthew Pappas (born May 31, 1967) is a Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney. He has represented clients in cases involving medical marijuana, civil asset forfeiture and religious rights.[1][2][3] In a video released by Pappas in 2015[4], Santa Ana Police officers were shown destroying video cameras, playing games, insulting a disabled woman in a wheelchair and allegedly eating cannabis edibles.[5] Several officers were charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office for their conduct during the raid.[6] After a lawsuit was filed by Pappas, the city paid $100,000.00 to settle the case.[7]
Cases and Career
Some of Pappas’s cases have included the Schwab family in their efforts against the state of Kansas after the state took custody of their children[8][9], representing former marine Kristoffer Lewandowski in his legal battle against the state of Oklahoma[10][11], representing Tony Jalali, a commercial property owner in Anaheim, California who faced civil asset forfeiture by the federal government and the city of Anaheim[12][13], and representing Marla James, a disabled patient who was volunteering as manager of the Sky High Holistic medical marijuana dispensary on the day of a Santa Ana Police Department raid in 2015.[14][15]. With help from the Institute for Justice, a Washington D.C. organization that joined the Jalali forfeiture case as amicus curiae, the federal government dismissed its case against the Anaheim landlord and other landlords from Los Angeles and Santa Ana who were also represented by Pappas.[16][17]
Pappas has also been involved in religious rights cases, specifically cases involving the use of cannabis as religious sacrament.[18] In a matter involving the JAH Healing church in Big Bear, Pappas represented the church and its minister in a trial that took place over several months in 2019. The church filed an appeal that it later lost. [19] Pappas then, on behalf of the church, filed a petition for review to the California Supreme Court.[20].
Following a controversial raid in 2018, Pappas began representing the Vault Church in Jurupa Valley, California.[21] Members of the church protested and an agreement with the City of Jurupa Valley was eventually reached that allowed the church to reopen.[22] It was during this time Pappas debated controversial professor and attorney John Eastman, formerly the dean of Chapman University School of Law and a lawyer who worked to overturn the 2020 presidential election on behalf of former President Donald Trump. The debate was about cannabis church rights and was heard on KPCC radio and NPR.[23]
There has been significant controversy surrounding Pappas’s cases including claims that authorities raided his home in Orange County, California to retaliate for lawsuits he’d filed against government agencies[24][25] as well as his unsuccessful effort to become Long Beach City Attorney in 2014[26]. Pappas had won a major case against the City of Long Beach in 2011 and alleged the city had illegally targeted and cited him as well as several patients.[27][28] In lawsuits and the press, Pappas claimed dispensary raids and other actions by the City of Long Beach were harming patients and patient advocates and specifically targeting people of color.[29][30][31] During his 2014 campaign for Long Beach City Attorney, Pappas stated publicly that excessive shootings by the Long Beach Police Department were costing the city millions of dollars.[32]
Prior to the Pack v. City of Long Beach case, Pappas represented Marla James and three other disabled individuals in a federal action against the cities of Costa Mesa and Lake Forest, California (James v. City of Costa Mesa, et al.) claiming the cities were violating their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).[33] Although U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Guilford was sympathetic to the patients, he ultimately ruled against them.[34] The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later affirmed the judge's decision[35], but not without a significant dissent by one of the panel judges that heard the appeal.[36] The James case is used by schools to teach and students to learn about relevant provisions of the ADA.[37]
In 2011, Pappas’s daughter, Victoria, began working for his law office and diligently supported the rights of patients before her death in 2018.[38][39][40] From 2011 to 2015, Victoria served as Pappas's assistant in trials, appeals as well as traveled with Pappas to meet then Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco regarding the federal forfeiture cases.[41]
Personal Life
Pappas was born on May 31, 1967 in Los Angeles, California. His father, John Pappas, was a Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy who worked in the L.A. County Superior Court as a bailiff and thereafter as a court clerk. He was the court clerk in the Charles "Tex" Watson trial involving the Charles Manson murders[42] and announced the verdict in that case. After completing law school, Pappas's father passed the California Bar Exam and began practicing law in 1972.[43] Pappas's maternal grandfather was attorney Kenneth H. Clausen (1916-2009) who built and operated a large and reputable insurance coverage law firm in Los Angeles in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.[44]
Pappas grew up in Bellingham, Washington and attended Sehome High School. He later moved to Southern California where he attended Western State University College of Law in Fullerton. While a student, he was invited to serve as a judicial extern for the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr., United States District Judge for the Central District of California. Pappas earned his juris doctor degree and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1994.[45]
In 1988, Pappas married Divina Hardin. The couple had four children, Sebastian, Victoria, Bryce, and Bailey[46]. In 2015, the couple separated and filed for divorce. Tragically, Victoria Pappas suffered a major injury when she was attacked in Las Vegas in 2011. In-part related to the traumatic brain injury she suffered in 2011, Victoria passed away on February 2, 2018.[47] Victoria dreamt and received the “Nine Epiphanies,” a religious scripture, and was an advocate for the rights of medical cannabis patients.[48] Following Victoria's death, Pappas was diagnosed with depression and was subsequently suspended from the practice of law for 90-days.[49] Pappas's suspension ended on June 26, 2023.
References
- ↑ "New Video 'Definitively' Shows Officers Consumed 'Edibles' in Santa Ana Pot Shop Raid: Attorney". KTLA. 3 July 2015.
- ↑ "Pot patients file appeal with 9th Circuit Court". Orange County Register. 14 May 2010.
- ↑ "Bay Area's medical marijuana pioneer caught in jaws of federal drug laws". The Mercury News. 31 January 2014.
- ↑ "Santa Ana police officers sue to quash video of pot shop raid". Orange County Register. 8 August 2015.
- ↑ "Police officers eating marijuana "edibles" during raid? That's what surveillance video appears to show". FOX 6 Now Milwaukee. 13 June 2015.
- ↑ "Santa Ana Cops From Infamous Sky High Raid Get Wrists Slapped and Keep Their Jobs – OC Weekly". www.ocweekly.com.
- ↑ "Santa Ana to pay $100,000 to pot shop at center of controversial police raid". Orange County Register. 26 October 2016.
- ↑ https://www.ksnt.com/news/schwab-family-sues-kansas-brownback/
- ↑ "Marijuana Activist Banda Still Plans To File Civil Rights Suit". KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR. 12 February 2016.
- ↑ "Lewandowski will not Face Jail Time". Minardi Law.
- ↑ "Domestic disturbance turns into pot bust". KWSO. 3 June 2014.
- ↑ "Federal case over rental to pot dispensary dropped". Orange County Register. 9 October 2013.
- ↑ Nelson, Vern (9 September 2013). "Tony Jalali, and Anaheim's Avaricious, Hypocritical War on Medical Pot. | Orange Juice Blog". Orange Juice Blog.
- ↑ Gajanan, Mahita (16 June 2015). "Police used excessive force in California marijuana dispensary raid, clients allege". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Investigation underway in pot bust allegations, Santa Ana police chief says". ABC7 Los Angeles.
- ↑ "Feds, Anaheim Try to Seize $1.5M Building . . . With No Charges Against the Owner – The Heartland Institute". heartland.org.
- ↑ "US Attorney Defies White House". East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda. 13 November 2013.
- ↑ John, Arit (23 November 2019). "Inside the War for California's Cannabis Churches". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Shuttered Big Bear cannabis church loses court appeal to reopen, vows to continue fight". San Bernardino Sun. 14 October 2022.
- ↑ Molina, Alejandra (21 October 2022). "Shuttered cannabis church takes fight to reopen to California Supreme Court". Religion News Service.
- ↑ "Marijuana is part of its religion, says California church fighting to stay open". The Mercury News. 17 April 2018.
- ↑ "Jurupa Valley cannabis church raided by Riverside County DA task force". ABC7 Los Angeles.
- ↑ "A higher power: The legal battle between a church using cannabis for worship and the city calling it a front for a pot store". LAist - NPR News for Southern California - 89.3 FM.
- ↑ "Attorney says deputies targeted him in raid on his house". Daily Pilot. 8 October 2016.
- ↑ "Police raid pot shop lawyer's home: Was it 'retaliatory' or for his daughter?". Orange County Register. 6 October 2016.
- ↑ "Matthew Pappas, Prominent Medical Marijuana Attorney, Seeks Long Beach City Attorney Office – OC Weekly". www.ocweekly.com.
- ↑ "Pappas Vows Fight Against Potential Medpot Ban". Press Telegram. 22 November 2011.
- ↑ Moore, Greggory (23 August 2012). "Attorney in 'Pack' Decision Responds to Supreme Court Dismissal Case". Long Beach Post News.
- ↑ Romero, Dennis (3 July 2012). "Marijuana Raid, Alleged Excessive Force on VIDEO; LBC Pot Shop Lawyer Says Suit Likely - LA Weekly". www.laweekly.com.
- ↑ "Lawsuit Alleges Long Beach Cops Brutalized Marijuana Dispensary Worker During 2012 Raid – OC Weekly". www.ocweekly.com.
- ↑ "Video: Did Long Beach Police Use Excessive Force During Pot Shop Raid?". LAist. 7 July 2012.
- ↑ "Long Beach police shootings cost city millions". Orange County Register. 23 November 2013.
- ↑ "James v. City of Costa Mesa, 684 F.3d 825 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
- ↑ "Pot patients hopeful federal judge sides with them". Orange County Register. 27 April 2010.
- ↑ "James v. City of Costa Mesa, 700 F.3d 394 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
- ↑ Group, Pappas Law. "Federal Medical Marijuana Case Regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act". www.prnewswire.com.
- ↑ "Case Brief for James v Costa Mesa". www.coursehero.com.
- ↑ "Lawyer's daughter is exhibit A in pot-rights effort". Orange County Register. 8 May 2013.
- ↑ "VICTORIA PAPPAS Obituary (1992 - 2018) - Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Review-Journal". Legacy.com.
- ↑ "ADSI Reports". www.globenewswire.com.
- ↑ November 12, Americans for Safe Access on. "California US Attorneys Defying White House's Weed Policy". Americans for Safe Access.
- ↑ "Find 'Tex' Watson Guilty; Sanity Phase Scheduled - Charles Manson Family and Sharon Tate-Labianca Murders Archive". Cielo Drive.
- ↑ "John David Pappas # 54274 - Attorney Licensee Search". apps.calbar.ca.gov.
- ↑ "Kenneth Clausen Obituary (2009) - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Times". Legacy.com.
- ↑ "Matthew Scott Pappas # 171860 - Attorney Licensee Search". apps.calbar.ca.gov.
- ↑ "Lawyer's daughter is exhibit A in pot-rights effort". Orange County Register. 8 May 2013.
- ↑ "VICTORIA PAPPAS Obituary (1992 - 2018) - Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Review-Journal". Legacy.com.
- ↑ Epiphanies, The Nine. "THE NINE EPIPHANIES". The Nine Epiphanies.
- ↑ "Matthew Scott Pappas # 171860 - Attorney Licensee Search". apps.calbar.ca.gov.
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