The Honorable Joni T. Hiramoto, the Court’s current Assistant Presiding Judge, will become Presiding Judge, and the Honorable Benjamin T. Reyes II has been elected to serve as Assistant Presiding Judge. Their terms run from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2028. Judge Hiramoto will succeed the Honorable Christopher R. Bowen, whose term as Presiding Judge ends December 31, 2026.

Div. Eight of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that the Los Angeles Unified School District violated a California labor law by excluding two job applicants from employment based on background checks that revealed now-expunged misdemeanor convictions, rejecting the view that the defendant is entitled to filter out candidates with any criminal history in light of its general obligation to protect the children entrusted to its care.

(Subscription required) The appellate court found county supervisors had a reasonable basis to declare an emergency and place the five-year sales tax on a 2025 special-election ballot, but a separate constitutional challenge to the tax remains pending. 

(Subscription required) Judge Brad A. Weinreb oversees roughly 25 judges in San Diego Superior Court's North County Division, where shifting trial calendars, staffing shortages and changing law require constant adjustment.