Constitutional Law

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

Ciria v. Gerrans — Ninth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to SFPD Inspectors Who Allegedly Fabricated Evidence Leading to 32-Year Wrongful Imprisonment

automatic / June 5, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denies qualified immunity to two former SFPD inspectors accused of fabricating evidence that led to Joaquin Ciria's 32-year wrongful imprisonment, holding that the right not to be charged based on deliberately fabricated evidence was clearly established by 1990.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Welsh v. Loudbear — Tribal Officials Sued Individually for RICO Violations Cannot Claim Sovereign Immunity

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a civil RICO action against tribal officials, holding that officials sued in their individual capacities for money damages are not protected by tribal sovereign immunity and the tribe was not a required party.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. DeBorba — Ninth Circuit Affirms Firearms Convictions, Holds Silencers Are Not “Arms” Under the Second Amendment

automatic / June 3, 2026

Ninth Circuit affirms firearms convictions, holding that silencers are optional accessories outside the Second Amendment’s plain text and that the NFA’s registration requirements are a constitutional shall-issue licensing regime.

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

Hiller v. Marin Municipal Water District — Ratepayer’s Proposition 218 Challenge Barred by Validation Statutes After Failure to Respond to District’s Validation Action

automatic / June 2, 2026

First District holds that a ratepayer’s Proposition 218 challenge to water rates is permanently barred after she failed to participate in the water district’s validation action within the 120-day window set by Government Code section 53759.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. $1,106,775 in U.S. Currency — Ninth Circuit En Banc Limits Government’s Power to End Civil Forfeiture Cases Through Discovery Sanctions

automatic / June 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, reverses a district court that ended a $1.1 million civil forfeiture case as a discovery sanction, holding that the claimant established standing and gave the government enough information to investigate his ownership claim.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Bankston — Death Sentence Reversed Under California Racial Justice Act; Gang-Murder Convictions Affirmed

automatic / June 1, 2026

The California Supreme Court affirms a double gang-murder defendant's convictions but reverses his 1994 death sentence under the retroactive California Racial Justice Act of 2020, requiring a new penalty-phase trial in a case that has been on automatic appeal for over three decades.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Barrera — Death sentence affirmed for torture-murder of two young children, with key rulings on expert hearsay and lesser-included-offense instructions

automatic / June 1, 2026

The California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the death sentence of a Los Angeles father convicted of the torture-murders of two young children, holding that months of deliberate beatings, starvation, and medical neglect provided sufficient evidence of premeditated torturous intent, and that confrontation clause error in admitting a non-testifying expert's hearsay was harmless in light of the overwhelming independent evidence of abuse.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Chhuon and Pan — Defense Counsel’s Guilty Concession Over Client’s Objection Requires Full Reversal in Capital Case

automatic / June 1, 2026

The California Supreme Court reverses a death-row defendant's convictions entirely because his attorney conceded guilt over the client's explicit objection — a structural constitutional error requiring automatic reversal — while affirming the co-defendant's death sentence and vacating both defendants' gang enhancements under California's reformed gang statute.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Demolle — California Supreme Court Affirms Death Sentence in 1999 Child Murder; Clarifies Fourth Amendment Detention Rules and Victim Impact Testimony Scope

automatic / June 1, 2026

The California Supreme Court affirms a death sentence for the 1999 rape-murder of an Oakland 11-year-old, holding that a suspect who voluntarily accompanies police to the station and is briefly placed in a lockable interview room has not been seized under the Fourth Amendment — and clarifying when victim impact testimony from a teacher may be admitted at a capital penalty phase.

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

People v. Haddock — Court Reverses Gang Murder Convictions for Improper Denial of Racial Justice Act Claims

automatic / May 28, 2026

The Fourth District conditionally reverses gang murder convictions, finding the trial court applied the wrong legal standards when denying Racial Justice Act motions and discovery requests based on the prosecution's introduction of a rap song at trial.

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

Voice of San Diego v. San Diego Unified School District — Court Holds CPRA’s “Promptly Available” Standard Is Flexible, Not a Fixed Deadline

automatic / May 27, 2026

The Fourth District holds that the CPRA’s “promptly available” production standard is a flexible, context-dependent requirement — not a fixed deadline — and sets out a multi-factor test for courts to evaluate agency compliance.

6th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

P. v. Molina — Lifetime Sex Offender Registration for Older Offenders Does Not Violate Equal Protection

automatic / May 26, 2026

California's Sixth District Court of Appeal upholds lifetime sex offender registration for offenders convicted of lewd acts with minors under Penal Code section 288(c)(1), rejecting an equal protection challenge comparing them to section 288(a) offenders who face shorter registration periods.

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

People v. Cardenas — Defendants Have the Right to Argue Aggravating Sentencing Factors to a Jury

automatic / May 26, 2026

California appellate court rules that defendants must be allowed to argue aggravating sentencing factors to a jury, reversing an upper-term firearm enhancement where the trial court denied closing argument on those factors.

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

Thakur v. Trump — Ninth Circuit Rules Terminating Research Grants Over DEI Viewpoints Likely Violates the First Amendment

automatic / May 26, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that federal agencies likely violated the First Amendment by terminating University of California research grants based on recipients' perceived viewpoints on DEI and environmental justice, while ruling that a separate class of grant termination challenges falls outside district court jurisdiction under the Tucker Act.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

United States v. Johnsen — Hash-Value Matches Can Establish Probable Cause Without Visual Confirmation of Files

automatic / May 26, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that hash-value matches between a suspect's files and known child pornography can establish probable cause for a search warrant without agents first downloading and visually confirming the files.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Kheyre — Departures Excluded from Amended Guideline Range in Sentence Reduction Proceedings

automatic / May 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that courts may not include departures when calculating the amended guideline range in sentence reduction proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), making defendants whose original sentences fell below the amended range ineligible for reductions.

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

Reges v. Cauce — Ninth Circuit Rules University Violated Professor’s First Amendment Rights Over Syllabus Land Acknowledgment Protest

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that a public university violated a professor's First Amendment rights by investigating and reprimanding him for inserting a counter-statement to a recommended land acknowledgment in his syllabus.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Bradford v. Vang — Ninth Circuit Holds Loper Bright Does Not Displace AEDPA Deference in Habeas Cases

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Loper Bright's elimination of Chevron deference does not undermine AEDPA's deferential standard in habeas cases, reversing a district court's grant of relief to a California death-row inmate.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

United States v. Sanchez — Ninth Circuit Adopts ‘Heavy Presumption of Prejudice’ Standard When Racially Biased Juror Is Removed Mid-Deliberation

automatic / May 12, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that when a racially biased juror is discovered and removed before a verdict is accepted, courts must apply the Remmer framework’s heavy presumption of prejudice—and reverses a tax-fraud conviction because the government could not rebut that presumption.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Chapman — Ninth Circuit: Federal Kidnapping Can Be Committed by Deception, But Conviction Vacated for Jury Coercion

automatic / May 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that federal kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1) can be committed by deception alone, but vacates the murder-kidnapping conviction because the trial judge improperly coerced a unanimous verdict from a deadlocked jury.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Urquia-Yanez v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit: DHS Need Not Translate Address-Update Rules into the Alien’s Native Language

automatic / May 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that DHS is not constitutionally required to translate the entirety of a Notice to Appear — including the obligation to update one's address with the immigration court — into the alien's native language.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Burney v. Broomfield — Ninth Circuit Affirms Habeas Denial in Death Penalty Case, Finding No Judicial Bias

automatic / May 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of habeas relief for a California death row inmate, finding that the trial judge's informal and at times inappropriate comments during trial did not demonstrate bias or render the proceedings fundamentally unfair.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Fuhr v. City of Seattle — Ninth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to SWAT Officer Who Shot Fleeing Father Holding Infant Daughter

automatic / May 7, 2026

Ninth Circuit affirms summary judgment for a Seattle SWAT officer who shot and killed an armed, fleeing father holding his infant daughter, holding that no clearly established law put the officer on notice that deadly force in those circumstances was unconstitutional.

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

Williams v. Legacy Health — Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Against COVID-Vaccine Religious-Exemption Plaintiffs Under Groff Undue-Hardship Test

automatic / May 6, 2026

The Ninth Circuit applies the Groff undue-hardship test and affirms summary judgment for a regional healthcare system that denied COVID-19 vaccination religious exemptions to nine clinical employees during the Delta-variant surge.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

3Pak LLC v. City of Seattle — Ninth Circuit Holds State-Created Danger Doctrine Doesn’t Cover Pure Economic Loss, but Revives State Nuisance Claim Under Equitable Tolling

automatic / May 5, 2026

The Ninth Circuit publishes that the state-created danger doctrine reaches only bodily-integrity harm, not lost profits — but reverses dismissal of state-law nuisance claims to let businesses pursue equitable tolling under American Pipe.