NewsLinks is a collection of recent news items relating primarily to the California judicial branch. NewsLinks does not verify or endorse the accuracy or fairness of the news items, and the views expressed in opinions, editorials, and commentaries are those of the writers only. Some news articles linked from this page may require a subscription or be behind a paywall.

NewsLinks

  • Public Records Act Sets No Time Limit on Production

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    May 12, 2026

    State and local agencies in California must adhere to statutory deadlines in saying whether they will or won’t produce public records but are under no compulsion to provide them promptly, Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday, affirming a trial court determination that no writ relief lies even where there are delays of weeks or months.

  • C.A.: 23-Year-Old Sentenced to LWOP Might Be Eligible for Parole Review as Youthful Offender

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    May 12, 2026

    The Third District Court of Appeal has held that a defendant convicted of a special circumstances murder that was committed when he was 23 years old was wrongly denied the opportunity to make a record of mitigating evidence related to his age for purposes of future parole proceedings under a Penal Code section applicable to “youthful offenders” that specifically excludes adult perpetrators who were sentenced to determinate life sentences.

  • Data Shows Success of Yolo Superior Court’s Pretrial Services Program

    California Courts Newsroom
    May 12, 2026

    Pretrial services programs aim to increase the safe and efficient release of arrested individuals before trial, using the least restrictive monitoring practices possible while still protecting public safety and ensuring court appearances.

  • ABA must axe law school diversity rules to retain accreditor status, committee says

    Reuters
    May 11, 2026

    The American Bar Association is poised to eliminate or pare down three separate diversity and non-discrimination requirements from its law school accreditation standards, saying those provisions threaten both the organization’s federal recognition and the national ​system of law school oversight.

  • Judge approves $303M settlement for NCAA volunteer coaches

    Daily Journal
    May 12, 2026

    (Subscription required) A federal judge on Monday approved a $303 million settlement benefiting so-called volunteer coaches, including $90 million in attorneys' fees. They filed an antitrust claim three years ago claiming that schools engaged in illegal price-fixing by offering them only so-called "volunteer" coaching positions. 

  • LWOP Sentence Does Not Foreclose Resentencing Relief

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    May 11, 2026

    The Fifth District Court of Appeal held Friday that a murderer facing life in prison without the possibility of parole is entitled to a full resentencing hearing—at which a judge must consider “any changes in law that reduce [penalties] or provide for judicial discretion”—based on the fact that his sentence includes three one-year enhancements under a now-defunct scheme authorizing additional custody time for previous terms of incarceration.

  • Story in Trade Journal Is Sufficiently ‘Public’ for SLAPP Law

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    May 11, 2026

    Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge rightly granted anti-SLAPP motions filed by a journalist and an airline-insiders trade publication in a lawsuit filed by a small, regional carrier accusing them of libel over a story discussing a regulatory investigation into how the company logs flight hours for new pilots, rejecting the view that the purportedly esoteric topic and the intended audience are too limited to trigger the “public interest.”

  • 9th Circuit narrows bankruptcy trustee immunity in en banc ruling

    Daily Journal
    May 11, 2026

    (Subscription required) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sharply limited the scope of immunity available to bankruptcy trustees, ruling in an en banc decision that a Chapter 7 trustee accused of failing to preserve estate assets could face personal liability.