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

  • California appellate court upholds bar on revenue bonds for Delta Program

    Courthouse News Service
    December 31, 2025

    The panel agreed with a trial judge that Water Resources hadn't met its burden to show the controversial project qualifies as a modification of the existing infrastructure for which the department has authority to issue bonds.

  • California expands Care Court under Senate Bill 27

    KRCR
    January 1, 2026

    Senate Bill 27, which took effect in 2026, will expand the CARE Act to include individuals with bipolar I disorder with psychotic features. The bill also allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign mental health declarations, thereby increasing provider capacity.

  • Hope Sprouts in California Prisons as Racial Justice Act Is Strengthened

    Knock LA
    January 1, 2026

    AB 1071 provides three much-needed fixes to the Racial Justice Act (RJA), improving access to counsel, information, and remedies. Starting in January, courts must appoint an attorney to anyone unable to afford one who wishes to bring an RJA claim. AB 1071 also ensures people can obtain the evidence necessary to prove discrimination, closing an information gap that set many up to fail. Finally, the bill reaffirms that courts must impose remedies when racial bias is proven, and that judges must have the flexibility to match remedies to the harm.

  • Proposition 36 Doesn’t Bar Pretrial Mental Health Diversion

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    January 2, 2026

    The First District Court of Appeal has rejected the position of the Office of Attorney General that a 2024 voter-enacted measure cracking down on possessors of hard drugs with two or more priors are ineligible for pre-trial mental health diversion.

  • A tumultuous year reshapes the practice of law in California

    Daily Journal
    January 2, 2026

    (Subscription required) From a bar exam breakdown to new rules on advertising, discipline and training, 2025 brought sweeping change for lawyers.

  • Reconsideration of Another Judge’s Decision Required in Light of New Case, C.A. Holds

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    January 2, 2026

    One judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court erred in declining to review a “no-bail” decision by a member of that same tribunal in light of an intervening appellate opinion rejecting the analysis contained in the decision relied upon by the first bench officer, Div. One of the Court of Appeal for this district has held.

  • Resentencing Need Not Result in ‘Meaningful Modification’

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    January 2, 2026

    Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that resentencing initiated under the catchall provision allowing for reconsideration of a term of imprisonment based on any legislative changes need not result in a “meaningful modification” of the sentence, rejecting the defendant’s assertion that a trial judge abused his discretion in reducing his sentence from 369 to 225 years to life in prison because the reduction does not carry any practical weight. 

  • Case Against Ex-White House Official Survives SLAPP Test

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    December 31, 2025

    Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge properly denied an anti-SLAPP motion filed by a journalist, who was White House assistant press secretary under President George W. Bush, as to claims that in 2022 and 2023, he secretly recorded phone calls with higher-ups at a financial institution for which he worked in violation of California law.