Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation

Rojas-Espinoza v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit En Banc Reverses Course, Grants Stay of Removal and Will Reconsider Asylum Nexus Standard

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit's en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court's inconsistency.

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, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

People of California v. FMCSA — Ninth Circuit Upholds Federal Preemption of California Meal and Rest Break Rules for Bus Drivers

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied California's petition for review of the FMCSA's determination that California's meal and rest break rules are preempted as applied to drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, extending the preemption previously upheld for property-carrying vehicles.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Coffey v. Fast Easy Offer — Ninth Circuit Broadens TCPA Telephone Solicitation Definition to Include Indirect Sales Pitches

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a TCPA class action, holding that unsolicited calls asking homeowners if they want to sell their property qualify as telephone solicitations because the caller's underlying purpose was to encourage the purchase of real estate brokerage services.

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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Immigration, Litigation

Lnu v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Suspends Two California Attorneys for Filing AI-Hallucinated Citations and Repeatedly Lying About It

automatic / June 3, 2026

Ninth Circuit suspends two Orange County attorneys for six months after they filed briefs with AI-generated fake case citations and repeatedly denied the use of generative AI to the court.

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.

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, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Hedrington v. United States — Ninth Circuit Holds California Law Governs Claim Preclusion in FTCA Cases

automatic / May 22, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that under its binding precedent in Filice, California state claim preclusion law—not federal law—governs the preclusive effect of FTCA judgments, and a statute-of-limitations dismissal has no preclusive effect under California law.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

Olson v. FCA US, LLC — Car Manufacturer Cannot Force Consumer to Arbitrate Using Dealership’s Arbitration Clause

automatic / May 21, 2026

Ninth Circuit holds that an automobile manufacturer that was not a party to a consumer's lease agreement with a dealership cannot enforce the lease's arbitration or delegation clause, reaffirming Kramer v. Toyota and applying the California Supreme Court's Ford Motor Warranty Cases decision.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law

United States v. Tekola — Drug Trafficking Enhancement Applies Even When Defendant’s Apartment Is Also His Home

automatic / May 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a sentencing enhancement for maintaining a drug distribution premises, holding that a defendant’s apartment can qualify even when it also serves as his primary residence.

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, Immigration, Litigation

Singh v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Applies Supreme Court’s New Substantial Evidence Standard to Asylum Claims

automatic / May 15, 2026

The Ninth Circuit applies the Supreme Court's Urias-Orellana decision, holding that the highly deferential substantial evidence standard governs the entirety of the BIA's asylum conclusions, including whether undisputed facts constitute persecution.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

Trammell v. KLN Enterprises — Ninth Circuit Revives Class Action Over “No Artificial Flavors” Claim on Licorice Packaging

automatic / May 15, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a California consumer fraud class action, holding that a licorice product's "Free of Artificial Colors & Flavors" label can mislead reasonable consumers when the product allegedly contains petroleum-derived DL malic acid as a flavoring.

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, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Yurok Tribe v. EPA — Ninth Circuit Orders EPA to Strengthen Regulation of Toxic Flame Retardant DecaBDE

automatic / May 13, 2026

Ninth Circuit orders EPA to strengthen regulation of decaBDE, a toxic flame retardant, holding the agency failed to justify exemptions for recycling, waste disposal, wastewater, and sewage sludge under TSCA's expedited rulemaking mandate.

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, 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

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, 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, Business Transactions, Litigation

Crain Walnut Shelling v. USDC NDCA — Ninth Circuit Clarifies Lead Plaintiff Standard in Securities Class Actions

automatic / May 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied mandamus in the Super Micro Computer securities case and clarified that the standard for rebutting a presumptive lead plaintiff's adequacy under the PSLRA is preponderance of the evidence, not the lower 'genuine and serious doubt' threshold.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Phillips v. Goldman — Ninth Circuit En Banc Clarifies Limits of Bankruptcy Trustee Immunity

automatic / May 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee who fails to preserve estate assets is not shielded by quasi-judicial immunity because property-management duties are administrative, not adjudicative.