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

  • Court finds trial judge erred in allowing peremptory challenge

    Daily Journal
    April 15, 2026

    (Subscription required) The 4th District Court of Appeal reversed a conviction after finding the trial court failed to assess whether a juror strike was presumptively invalid under Code of Civil Procedure section 231.7.

  • Driver’s License Suspension Is Not Marred by Officer’s Non-Elaboration in Report—C.A.

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    April 15, 2026

    The Court of Appeal for this district has rejected the contention that a one-year driver’s license suspension for declining to submit to a chemical test for blood alcohol content was invalidly imposed because the arresting officer’s sworn report did not contain “all” relevant information concerning the motorist’s response to a request for compliance with the implied-consent law, but merely contained the statement, “REFUSAL.”

  • Error to Deny Court Fees to Grandmother Based on Equity

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    April 15, 2026

    Div. Two of this district’s Court of Appeal held yesterday that a trial judge erred in considering equitable factors in denying a party’s request for attorney fees under a Family Code provision aimed at ensuring parity in access to legal representation, declaring that the section only permits consideration of disparity in access to counsel and ability to pay.

  • Shasta County to swear in attorney Ryan Birss as judge Friday afternoon

    KRCR
    April 14, 2026

    Birss was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Feb. 2, 2026, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Monique McKee.

  • Judicial Profile: Los Angeles County Judge Tracey Blount

    Daily Journal
    April 15, 2026

    (Subscription required) A longtime dependency lawyer, Judge Tracey M. Blount is adjusting to Criminal Court with discipline, humility, and a focus on fairness.

  • AI ruling prompts warnings from US lawyers: Your chats could be used against you

    Reuters
    April 15, 2026

    In the wake of the ruling, attorneys have been advising that conversations with chatbots like Anthropic's Claude and ‌OpenAI's ChatGPT could be demanded by prosecutors in criminal cases or by litigation adversaries in civil cases.

  • Failure to Audio-Record Proceeding Doesn’t Invalidate Arbitrators’ Award—Ninth Circuit

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    April 14, 2026

    Failure of arbitrators to make certain a proceeding was being electronically recorded, coupled with their alleged incessant interruptions of the plaintiff, did not require that a District Court judge vacate an award, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday, affirming the judgment.

  • Workplace Order Banning Abortion Protestor Based on Act Outside Clinic Is Proper—C.A.

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    April 14, 2026

    An anti-abortion activist, who bumped into an employee of a Redlands-based clinic with his stomach during efforts to block her from interrupting a conversation between another protestor and a potential client outside the gated premises, was properly subjected to a workplace violence restraining order requiring him to stay 100 yards away from the facility for three years, the Third District Court of Appeal held yesterday.