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

  • Good-Faith Exception to Warrant Necessity Applied to Search of Cellphone—C.A.

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 17, 2026

    Suppression of the fruits of a warrantless search of cellphone was not required where the device had belonged to a man who had been slain and police officers believed that the decedent’s mother now owned the instrument and that her consent sufficed, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has held.

  • Lawyer Not ‘Ineffective’ While ‘Suspended’ for Trust Reports

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 17, 2026

    Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a trial attorney is not rendered “ineffective” due to the imposition of a “temporary suspension” of his license to practice law for purported noncompliance with the State Bar’s relatively new client trust account reporting requirements.

  • Judge halts RFK Jr.’s vaccine overhaul, citing flawed process

    The Washington Post
    March 16, 2026

    A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing sweeping changes to the nation’s childhood immunization schedule, siding with major medical organizations that argue Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unlawfully altered vaccine policy and improperly reconstituted a federal vaccine advisory panel.

    Related: Associated Press

  • Inside Sacramento’s new $514 million high-rise courthouse set to open in weeks

    Sacramento Bee
    March 17, 2026

    The latest addition to the Sacramento skyline may also be its most anticipated: a gleaming 18-story courthouse with 53 courtrooms and 540,000 square feet of real estate to replace an aging downtown courthouse long regarded as undersized, unsafe, overcrowded and obsolete.

  • California lawyers must soon take a yearly civility oath, prompting free speech concerns

    San Francisco Chronicle
    March 16, 2026

    Starting next month, each of California’s 286,000 attorneys will have to swear each year to “strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy and integrity” or risk losing their license to practice law. Unless, that is, the oath is found to unduly restrict freedom of speech, an argument that may find some support in the state Supreme Court, which would have the last word.

  • Apache Women Ask Supreme Court to Block Transfer of Religious Site to Mining Company

    The National Law Journal
    March 16, 2026

    (Subscription required) A group of Apache women has filed an emergency request to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to stop the development of a Native religious site for a large new copper mine, calling it a last chance to "prevent this generational tragedy."

  • New San Bernardino County program targets mentally ill and addicted inmates

    The Orange County Register
    March 15, 2026

    After studying a nationally recognized program in Nashville, Tennessee, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus and his department are finalizing plans for a new program at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center that will connect inmates afflicted with mental health and substance use disorders to essential services and housing after they are released.

  • Environmental impact scoping for new Nevada City Courthouse underway. Public meeting scheduled for March 25

    The Union
    March 15, 2026

    The Judicial Council has prepared a Notice of Preparation (NOP) to provide an opportunity to comment on the scope and proposed content of the Environmental Impact Report. The NOP provides the location, a brief description, and a summary of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project. 

    Related: YubaNet