California Case Summaries

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

Baker v. Bay Area Toll Authority — CEQA Challenge to Bay Bridge’s Bay Lights 360 LED Installation Is Time-Barred and Precluded

automatic / June 5, 2026

The First District affirms that a CEQA challenge to the Bay Bridge's Bay Lights 360 LED installation is time-barred, holding that a subsequent Caltrans encroachment permit does not create a new project or restart the limitations period, and issue preclusion bars relitigating questions resolved in an earlier dismissed suit.

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.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Askins v. CRST Expedited — California Courts Do Not Require Concrete Injury for Standing Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal held that California plaintiffs may pursue statutory damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act without proving concrete injury, departing from the Fifth District's Limon decision and reversing a class decertification order.

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.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Personal Injury & Tort

C.F. v. Alternative Family Services — Foster Family Agency Owes Duty to Protect Children from Abuse It Knew or Should Have Known About

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District affirmed a $24.7 million verdict against a foster family agency, holding that FFAs have a duty to protect foster children from abuse they knew or should have known about, but rejecting both an unlimited protective duty and one requiring actual knowledge.

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.

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.

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.

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 Legal News

California State Bar Approves Privacy Law Specialization; Certifications Begin January 1, 2027 with a Two-Year Grandfather Window

automatic / May 29, 2026

On May 14, 2026, the State Bar of California Board of Trustees approved Proposed Standards for Certification and Recertification in Privacy Law, creating a new attorney specialization that takes effect January 1, 2027. A two-year alternative pathway through December 31, 2028 lets eligible practitioners certify without sitting for the written exam.

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