INTRODUCTION:
Under the guise of
increased safety, the government has steadily and continuously
charged forward in their goal to curtail the civil rights of
individuals by flouting the liberties guaranteed to individuals in
the Constitution. The courts have played a major role in
facilitating such inroads into such freedoms. As a sole practitioner
civil rights attorney for the past 26 years, Ms. Wells has fought
the trends and represented the rights of such varied groups as the
bikers, the homeless,and medical marijuana advocates, as well as
those who are victims of law enforcement abuse. She specializes in
1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th amendment cases.
Ms. Wells has also
been successful in prosecuting several constitutional challenges to
laws and ordinances enacted in California. The government sets
precedents by passing laws against groups who are powerless or
unpopular and then uses these legal precedents against others. It is
her goal to educate the populous and arm the people with the ability
to fight back through the use of the Civil Rights Act, Title 42,
Section 1983 of the United States Code, to sue the government for
their unconstitutional acts and laws.
KEY EXPERTISE:
- In depth
knowledge gained from decades of prosecuting lawsuits against
local, state and federal government.
- Expertise in
the history of the Constitution and its precedents.
- Strategic
mastery in handling cases based on the Constitution.
- Passion for
justice and individual rights.
EXAMPLES OF PAST PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE:
Attorney in Independent Practice: Helmet Law found
Unconstitutional
Successfully obtained
a judgment in 2007 in Santa Cruz Superior court declaring the
motorcycle helmet law unconstitutional as applied by law enforcement
(specifically the California Highway Patrol) in California. (Said
decision was recently overturned by the 6th District California
Appellate court).
Attorney
in Independent Practice: First Amendment suit against Sheriff of
Santa Cruz County
2005 As a result of a
First Amendment lawsuit filed against the Sheriff of Santa Cruz
County, Mark Tracy, on behalf of Richard Quigley, the sheriff
resigned from office in 2005.
Attorney
in Independent Practice: Baldwin v. Placer County
2003-2005 Represented
the successful appellees in a published Ninth Circuit decision in
the case of Baldwin v. Placer County, 405 F.3d, 778 - a case
involving the violation of her clients’ 4th Amendment rights to be
free from unlawful arrest, unlawful search and seizure and excessive
force stemming from a medical marijuana raid by the Placer County
Sheriff’s Office. Also successful in defeating a Writ of Certiorari
filed in the United States Supreme Court by the losing appellants.
The result is a
citeable precedent that limits the availability of the qualified
immunity defense for law enforcement officers.
Member:
Board of Directors of the Western Service Worker's Association.
Ms. Wells sits on the
Board of Directors of the Western Service Worker’s Association. 2002
Activist:
Medical Marijuana Movement
1994 Active in the
medical marijuana movement from its inception in California,
representing provider associations when they became the subject of
civil injunctions by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Member
and Chairman: Board, Soquel Unified School District
1984 Elected to Soquel
Unified School District Board of Directors and was reelected to 4 -
4 year terms serving as chair of the Board 8 times.
Attorney
in Independent Practice: Constitutional Challenge
Successfully
challenged the constitutionality of three Santa Cruz city ordinances
- 1) requiring a license to distribute the homeless newspaper –
Street Spirit; 2) making it unlawful to sit on the sidewalk; 3)
various anti-panhandling ordinances 1984-1990
Educator:
National Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals (NCCLP)
Educated individuals
on their civil rights, providing free legal sessions for farm
workers and other low income workers not covered by the NLRB through
the Western Service Worker's Association, a group which is
affiliated with the National Coalition of Concerned Legal
Professionals.
Plaintiff:
Bank of America
Successfully acted as
plaintiff in the largest class action sex discrimination case in
history representing 25,000 women employees of Bank of America.
(Wells v. Bank of America),
Credit
Analyst and Supervisor Bank of America International
Represented B of A
Latin American accounts.
QUALIFICATIONS:
·
Federal Bar
- Ms. Wells is admitted in good standing to practice in the
Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern United States Federal
District Courts of California; the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in
Washington, D.C.; and the Supreme Court of the United States.
·
California Bar
- Ms. Wells is admitted in good standing to practice in all courts
in the State of California
·
B.A. Law
Graduated with highest academic honors
- Monterey College of Law 1982
·
B.A. in Diplomacy & World Affairs
- with minors in Economics and Spanish.
·
Continued Legal Education
- Successfully completed more than 100 courses in continued
legal education.
·
Member: NCCLP
AWARDS & HONORS:
·
Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award: Santa Cruz County
Bar Association.
1997 – For outstanding service to the community
·
American Field Service Foreign Exchange Student
- Lived and attended school in Chile for a year becoming fluent in
Spanish.
·
Academic honors from high school, college and law
school.
- Occidental College in Los Angeles
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