Administrative Law

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

CHP v. State Personnel Board — one-year suspension upheld despite overtime misconduct

automatic / August 5, 2026

The State Personnel Board acted within its discretion by reducing a CHP officer’s dismissal to a one-year suspension in light of mitigating circumstances.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Committee for a Better Arvin v. EPA — feasibility cannot dilute Clean Air Act contingency measures

automatic / August 5, 2026

EPA could not read a feasibility exception into the Clean Air Act’s mandatory contingency-measure requirement for the San Joaquin Valley.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Russian Riverkeeper v. County of Sonoma — Well-permit ordinance survives public-trust review but requires CEQA compliance

automatic / August 4, 2026

Sonoma County adequately considered public-trust impacts when revising its groundwater-well ordinance, but lacked substantial evidence for exempting the revision from CEQA.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Business Transactions, Environmental Law

Applied Medical Resources Corp. v. PUC — Commission may reject private microgrid tariff proposal

automatic / August 4, 2026

The PUC acted within its broad authority when it adopted utility microgrid tariffs while rejecting a manufacturer's competing proposal.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law

Przybocki v. USDA — Consumers and Food Sellers Can Pursue First Amendment Challenges to FODMAP Label Restrictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit found standing for consumers and food sellers challenging federal restrictions on FODMAP label information.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

L.A. County Employees Retirement Association v. County of Los Angeles — Pension Boards Cannot Unilaterally Set Staff Classifications and Pay

automatic / August 3, 2026

California pension boards control system administration but cannot unilaterally dictate county staff classifications or salaries.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

New Commune DTLA v. Redondo Beach — Builder’s remedy did not override a certified coastal plan

automatic / July 30, 2026

A proposed housing project in Redondo Beach’s coastal zone could be denied because it conflicted with the city’s Coastal Commission-certified local coastal program.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Family Law

In re Violet S. — Eligible nonminor dependent keeps extended foster-care jurisdiction

automatic / July 30, 2026

A juvenile court could not terminate jurisdiction over an eligible nonminor dependent merely because another agency also provided lifelong services.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

AquAlliance v. Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency — Agency review may precede a court’s sustainability analysis

automatic / July 30, 2026

A trial court properly deferred to the Department of Water Resources and dismissed a duplicative challenge to a groundwater plan’s sustainability evaluation.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Election Law

Ehrenreich v. Weber — California’s presidential write-in elector requirements are facially constitutional

automatic / July 28, 2026

California may require presidential write-in candidates to file a complete slate of elector declarations before votes cast for them will be counted.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association v. Criminal Justice Attorneys Association — PEPRA Caps Leave Cash-Outs Used in Pension Calculations

automatic / July 27, 2026

The California Supreme Court held that crossing calendar years does not allow public employees to count more than one annual leave cash-out limit in a 12-month pension calculation period.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Toy v. City and County of San Francisco — Water-Rate Challenges Must Follow California’s Validation Procedure

automatic / July 24, 2026

A challenge to San Francisco water rates failed because California's mandatory reverse-validation procedure could not be waived by the city or replaced with refund and declaratory-relief claims.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Election Law, Tax (non-estate)

Osborne v. Logan — School Bond Ballots Must State Tax Rates Per $100,000 of Assessed Value

automatic / July 24, 2026

A California Court of Appeal held that school bond ballot questions must express property-tax rates per $100,000 of assessed value, matching the format required in voter information materials.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Torres-Casas v. Blanche — Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship

automatic / July 22, 2026

Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Criminal Law

Pipitone v. DMV — Drugs carried in a car supported mandatory license revocation

automatic / July 21, 2026

Drugs carried in a car supported mandatory license revocation.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Demetrio v. Blanche — Age-based asylum social groups are legally immutable

automatic / July 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that age-based asylum groups are immutable as a matter of law and ordered the BIA to reconsider the applicant's claims.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Insurance Law

Ison v. Lara — Marital Status Auto Insurance Rating Factor Survives Civil Rights Challenge

automatic / July 16, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal held that California's Insurance Commissioner regulation permitting auto insurers to use marital status as an optional rating factor remains valid despite the 2005 amendment to the Unruh Civil Rights Act adding marital status as a protected characteristic.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Litigation

In re Spielbauer — California Supreme Court Orders Attorney Restitution to Non-Client Fraud Victim

automatic / July 16, 2026

The California Supreme Court held that a restitution order is appropriate in attorney discipline cases where an attorney's intentional, fraudulent misconduct caused direct financial harm to a non-client, correcting a State Bar Court misreading of prior precedent that had treated tort-based damages to non-clients as categorically excluded from restitution.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Banking & Finance, Constitutional Law

Novedades y Servicios v. FinCEN — Ninth Circuit Upholds Block on Treasury’s Sweeping Southwest Border Cash-Reporting Order

automatic / July 13, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirms a preliminary injunction blocking FinCEN’s “Border GTO” — which required money services businesses in 30 southwest border ZIP codes to file cash-transaction reports for amounts as low as $200 — finding the order was likely a rule requiring notice-and-comment rulemaking and that it was adopted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Yurok Tribe v. EPA — Ninth Circuit Orders Stronger Federal Regulation of DecaBDE Flame Retardant, Rejecting EPA’s Limits as Unsupported

automatic / July 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacates key portions of the EPA's 2024 flame-retardant rule, finding EPA failed to adequately regulate decaBDE exposures in recycled plastics, disposal, wastewater, and sewage sludge as required by the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Sarr v. Blanche — Drug Trafficking Conviction Bars Removal Protection, and Chevron-Era Precedent Survives Loper Bright

automatic / July 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that a drug trafficking conviction supports denial of withholding of removal, and rules that a prior Chevron-based statutory precedent retains binding force under Loper Bright's doctrine of statutory stare decisis.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Real Estate Law

City of Clearlake v. Highlands Mutual Water Co. — Statute Requiring Cancellation of Public Entity’s Water Company Shares Is Constitutional

automatic / July 7, 2026

The First District holds that Corporations Code section 14300's mandatory cancellation of a public entity's appurtenant water company shares does not violate the California Constitution's limited exception permitting public entities to hold such shares.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Rinnai America Corp. v. South Coast Air Quality Management District — Federal Energy Law Does Not Preempt SCAQMD’s Zero-NOx Gas Appliance Rule

automatic / July 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, holds that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) does not preempt the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Rule 1146.2, which phases in zero-NOx emission standards for gas water heaters and boilers to bring the Los Angeles Basin into compliance with federal ozone standards under the Clean Air Act.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Environmental Law

Rinnai America Corp. v. South Coast Air Quality Management District — Federal Energy Law Does Not Block California’s Zero-Emission Appliance Rules

automatic / July 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) does not preempt SCAQMD's Rule 1146.2, which phases out gas-fired water heaters and boilers across Southern California to achieve compliance with federal ozone standards — dealing a major setback to appliance manufacturers challenging the ban.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Tax (non-estate)

Garst v. Tehama County Flood Control District — Countywide Groundwater Registration Charge Is an Unconstitutional Tax

automatic / June 29, 2026

The Third District struck down a Tehama County groundwater district's per-acre annual charge as an unconstitutional tax rather than a valid regulatory fee, ruling that Proposition 26 bars a fee imposed on parcels with no groundwater wells for a well-registration program that provides no direct service to those parcels.