Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort
automatic / November 2, 2026
The Ninth Circuit found unconstitutional excessive force in a foam-round shooting but granted the officer qualified immunity and certified a Bane Act question.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort
automatic / November 2, 2026
The Ninth Circuit held that firing the projectile at Johnson was unreasonable force under the Fourth Amendment. Johnson and nearby demonstrators were peaceful, the weapon could cause serious injury, and a generalized interest in controlling a crowd did not justify shooting someone who posed no imminent threat. The court therefore left no doubt that the conduct violated Johnson’s constitutional right.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law
automatic / October 30, 2026
The Second District held that Sheriff’s Department chiefs lacked authority to bind Los Angeles County to settlements of deputies’ civil-service discipline appeals.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation
automatic / October 30, 2026
The Ninth Circuit held that Meta’s account terms preserved its editorial discretion and did not give an advertiser an independent right to keep its Facebook pages online.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Election Law, Litigation
automatic / October 30, 2026
The Ninth Circuit refused to require California officials to segregate thousands of ballots days before the election because federal law did not clearly compel that remedy and late changes risked serious disruption.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Healthcare Law, Litigation
automatic / October 30, 2026
Ninth Circuit stays injunction against Idaho abortion law pending appeal.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Antitrust, Civil Procedure, Litigation
automatic / October 30, 2026
NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation: Expert disputes go to the jury, but damages require a new trial.
4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation
automatic / October 29, 2026
The Fourth District affirmed. A party answering a request for admission must admit every portion that is true and deny or qualify only the remainder. Even if the request bundled several propositions and the restaurant group did not prove every detail, Hagestad could not deny the
2nd District Court of Appeal, Insurance Law, Personal Injury & Tort
automatic / October 29, 2026
The Second District affirmed. California Vehicle Code sections 17150 and 17151 ordinarily impose limited vicarious liability on an owner who permits another person to operate a vehicle. But the Graves Amendment expressly prevents states from imposing liability on a rental or leas
2nd District Court of Appeal, Banking & Finance, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Personal Injury & Tort
automatic / October 29, 2026
The Second District reversed most of the judgment. Once a claim is timely under California’s delayed-discovery rule, the limitations period ordinarily determines whether the action may proceed; it does not automatically erase damages from earlier conduct that forms part of the ti
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law
automatic / October 29, 2026
The Ninth Circuit kept SB 399 preliminarily enjoined because the employer political- and religious-meeting law is likely a content-based speech restriction that fails strict scrutiny.
1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law
automatic / October 28, 2026
People v. Northington: premature juror excusal requires a new trial and assault acquittal.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law
automatic / October 28, 2026
Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Reclamation: contract conversions require no separate NEPA or ESA review.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law
automatic / October 27, 2026
People v. Bray: trial courts need an applicable sentencing-law change to recall a sentence.
1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The court affirmed. The jury was instructed that first degree murder required a deliberate decision to kill—careful weighing of considerations and a knowing choice—not a rash, impulsive decision made without careful thought. By returning that verdict, the jury necessarily rejected the state of mind that would support heat of passion: intense emotion obscuring reason and causing action without due deliberation and reflection.
1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Personal Injury & Tort
automatic / October 26, 2026
The First District reversed. Section 820.2 protects a public employee’s qualifying discretionary policy decisions, but it does not confer blanket immunity on every act connected to a program that involves judgment. Immunity requires a considered exercise of discretion at the policy level. Routine implementation, investigation, supervision, and response duties may include ministerial conduct outside that protection.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Labor & Employment Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The Second District affirmed and held that FEHA does not alter the common-law presumption of corporate separateness. FEHA contains no provision addressing alter ego liability or judgment enforcement, much less the clear and unequivocal statement courts expect before concluding that legislation displaced a settled common-law rule. The direction to construe FEHA liberally and provide effective remedies was not enough to create a new presumption.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The Second District affirmed. A defendant is statutorily entitled to make a suppression motion at the preliminary hearing, and that motion is part of the hearing that section 859b requires to occur within its specified time. The prosecution could not preserve the complaint by separating the evidentiary issue from the preliminary hearing and postponing it beyond the deadline over the defendant’s objection.
3rd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The Third District reversed the judgment for sentencing purposes and ordered a full resentencing. The upper term could not rest on aggravating findings that duplicated elements of the crimes or the firearm enhancement, and the relevant danger-to-society finding required a comparison showing that the manner of committing the offense was distinctively worse than other ways the crime could be committed. The record and findings did not provide a valid, harmless foundation for the sentence imposed.
4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The Fourth District reversed and directed issuance of a writ requiring payment. Nothing in the collective bargaining agreement limited the retroactive increases or stipends to employees who remained on staff when the board approved the deal. The benefits were tied to service during the covered school year, and the former teachers had performed that work. Reading an unwritten continuing-employment condition into the agreement would create unequal compensation among equally qualified teachers for the same period of service.
California Supreme Court, Criminal Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Court of Appeal and held that section 417.3 requires objective fear only. The statutory words focus on the way the firearm is displayed and ask whether that conduct would cause a reasonable person apprehension or fear. They do not say that the identified victim must actually have experienced fear. The Legislature has expressly required actual, reasonable fear in other crimes, including the criminal-threats statute, and its omission of comparable language here was meaningful.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Election Law
automatic / October 26, 2026
A divided Ninth Circuit panel dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and denied the emergency motion as moot. Ordinarily, an appellate court reviews an order granting or denying an injunction, not a request the trial court is still actively considering. The narrow constructive-denial doctrine can treat inaction as appealable when delay effectively refuses urgently needed relief and creates imminent, severe, irreparable consequences. Those conditions were not met here.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Litigation
automatic / October 26, 2026
The panel granted a stay to the extent the district court’s orders prevented Berkeley from clearing and abating the Harrison encampment. Public-health evidence showed that leaving tents and vehicles in place could shelter rats and interfere with eradication measures. That created a serious risk to residents, workers, and the public, and justified allowing the city to complete work at that location while appellate review continued.
1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
automatic / October 23, 2026
A prevailing FEHA defendant cannot recover ordinary litigation costs without a proper motion and an express finding that the employee’s case was frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless.
3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Criminal Law
automatic / October 22, 2026
The Third District reversed both transfers. Although juvenile-court jurisdiction can continue after age 18, the Legislature used “minor” deliberately in section 750. Once C.M. became an adult, his residence could not automatically be derived from his parents’ residence. The transfer courts therefore erred at the threshold by treating Mariposa County as his residence without determining where C.M. himself resided.