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

  • Draper discipline case set for October argument

    Daily Journal
    August 13, 2026

    (Subscription required) The Commission on Judicial Performance will hear oral argument Oct. 7 in its misconduct case against Los Angeles County Judge Robert S. Draper, who lost reelection in June. The commission filed seven counts against Draper in January, alleging misconduct including bias, improper communications, disclosure of confidential court materials, inappropriate contacts with litigants and colleagues and failure to cooperate with its investigation.

  • How a Covid-Era Scramble Transformed [U.S.] Supreme Court Arguments

    New York Times
    August 13, 2026

    When the justices returned to the bench in October 2021, their approach to oral arguments had undergone a revolution. The aftershocks are still reverberating. The justices allowed live audio of the arguments, letting the public hear what went on in the courtroom in real time from anywhere in the world. They also revised the format of the arguments, adopting an ungainly hybrid that started with a familiar free-for-all barrage of questions and ended with one-by-one queries in order of the justices’ seniority.

  • Ninth Circuit: $12 Million Judgment Stands in Class Action Over ‘Predatory’ Student Loans

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    August 13, 2026

    The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a $12 million judgment against a San Diego-based lender accused of conspiring with the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute to create a student-loan program that was purportedly designed to defraud pupils and evade regulators in violation of federal law.

  • As Big Tech Cases Go to Trial, One Court Turns on the Livestream

    Bloomberg Law
    August 13, 2026

    (Subscription required) Anyone with an internet connection will be able to listen to the court’s live audio feed of Meta’s historic legal row, likely featuring testimony from Mark Zuckerberg, with more than two dozen state attorneys general over youth mental health. That makes the US District Court for the Northern District of California a standout among the country’s 94 federal trial courts, thanks to a local rule change that gives judges the discretion to provide live audio-only feeds of civil jury trials. Federal rules of criminal procedure prohibit criminal trial broadcasting.

  • Meta, 29 states head to court in biggest test yet of youth social media litigation

    Reuters
    August 12, 2026

    The trial in Oakland, expected to last seven weeks, will test Colorado, Kentucky, California and New Jersey's allegations that ‌Meta designed its platforms to keep young users hooked and misled consumers about their safety. It will also address claims by 29 states that the company illegally collected and used children's data in violation of federal law.

  • California privacy agency fines data broker over Social Security number opt-out

    Daily Journal
    August 12, 2026

    (Subscription required) LocateSmarter must pay $116,490 for requiring consumers to provide sensitive information to stop the sale of their data, in the agency's first enforcement action combining the CCPA and Delete Act.

  • Suit Against Kenny Chesney for Imposter-Scam Rightly Axed

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    August 12, 2026

    Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal yesterday affirmed the judgment entered in favor of country music star Kenny Chesney after a fan alleged that he failed to protect her from a third-party impersonator who was able to convince the woman to loan him $310,000 to cover expenses purportedly relating to an upcoming award show and recording release based on “insider” information that she says was not publicly available.

  • Fatal Fall Trying to Stop Car Theft Supports Murder Charge

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    August 12, 2026

    Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a felony murder conviction in a case in which a man was run over and killed after he fell trying to get into the passenger side of his moving van while the defendant was in process of stealing it.