California Case Summaries

Constitutional Law

Secondary practice area

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bonta — Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Review, Upholding California Switchblade Regulations

automatic / July 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in a Second Amendment challenge to California's switchblade knife regulations, leaving intact a panel ruling that California's ban on the concealed carry of switchblade knives survives a facial constitutional challenge under the Bruen framework.

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

Muradyan v. Bonta — Lifetime Sex Offender Registration for Child Luring Offense Survives Equal Protection Challenge

automatic / July 15, 2026

California's Second District Court of Appeal affirmed that placing child-luring offenders in the lifetime sex offender registration tier does not violate equal protection, because the Legislature could rationally find that the predatory, premeditated nature of luring crimes signals a higher risk of recidivism than other sex offenses.

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.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Garner — A 50-Year Juvenile Sentence Is Not a De Facto Life Term When Parole Is Available Under Section 3051

automatic / July 8, 2026

The Third District held that a juvenile offender's 50-year determinate sentence is not the functional equivalent of life without parole — and therefore does not qualify for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170(d)(1) — because section 3051 gave him a meaningful parole opportunity during his 15th year of incarceration.

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.

4th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Adelanto Elementary School District v. Krause — Employers Cannot Waive the Right to Seek a Workplace Violence Restraining Order for Employees

automatic / July 6, 2026

The Fourth District holds that an employer's statutory right to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of its employees cannot be signed away in a separation agreement, and strikes as a First Amendment violation a provision barring an elected board member from discussing the restraining order at public meetings.

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

In re Melson — Murder Conviction Vacated After Prosecution Failed to Correct False Eyewitness Testimony and Defense Counsel Did Not Review Police Interview Transcripts

automatic / July 2, 2026

The Second District Court of Appeal grants habeas corpus and vacates a second-degree murder conviction after finding the prosecution allowed false eyewitness testimony to stand uncorrected — and defense counsel failed to cross-examine the witnesses with their own prior contradictory police statements — in a gang-related retrial.

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.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. DePape — California Double Jeopardy Bars Three State Charges After Federal Conviction in Paul Pelosi Attack

automatic / June 30, 2026

The First District affirms dismissal of three state charges against David DePape — including attempted murder — under California's statutory double jeopardy protection, holding that mental-state elements cannot save a state charge when the required physical act was already proved in a prior federal conviction.

4th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

In re I.H. — Mistaken Identity Arrest Upheld; Firearm Discovered Incident to Resisting-Arrest Charge Is Admissible

automatic / June 25, 2026

The Fourth District holds that officers who reasonably but mistakenly identified a juvenile as a murder-warrant fugitive had probable cause to arrest him, and that after realizing the mistake they lawfully searched him incident to a resisting-arrest charge, making the discovered firearm admissible.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Brown v. Alaska Airlines — Airline’s Firing of Flight Attendants Over Equality Act Posts Must Go to Jury as Religious Discrimination

automatic / June 24, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reverses summary judgment for Alaska Airlines and the AFA flight attendants' union, holding that two Christian flight attendants fired after posting about the Equality Act raised genuine disputes of material fact on Title VII religious discrimination, and that the Railway Labor Act does not preempt their Oregon and Washington state anti-discrimination claims against the union.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Litigation, Tax (non-estate)

Nguyen v. City of Los Angeles — SoCalGas Franchise Fee and Customer Surcharge Are Not a Tax Under Proposition 26

automatic / June 22, 2026

The Second Appellate District affirmed summary judgment for the City of Los Angeles, holding that the 5.5% SoCalGas franchise fee — including a 3.5% surcharge billed to customers — is a charge for use of City streets exempt from Proposition 26's voter-approval requirement, and that no independent reasonableness showing is required under the exemption.

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