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

  • Hospitals Immune as to Post-Release Actions by Mentally Ill

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    June 10, 2026

    Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that hospitals enjoy broad immunity from claims relating to actions taken by mentally ill patients after their release from an involuntary period of in-patient psychiatric treatment, rejecting the assertion by the parents of a man who killed himself hours after he was set free from a Ventura County hospital, over their protestations, that an exception exists for cases of gross negligence.

  • C.A. Justices Spar Over Warrantless Search of Open Trunk

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    June 10, 2026

    Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that the warrantless search of a parked vehicle, which contained a shooting target and loose high-powered rifle ammunition visible in the back seat as well as a tactical vest in plain view through the partially-open lid to the rear compartment, was violative of the Fourth Amendment, drawing dissent over the circumstances under which a party can be said to have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

  • [U.S] Supreme Court set to rule on Trump, GOP policy goals ahead of summer recess

    Courthouse News Service
    June 10, 2026

    President Donald Trump’s agenda looms large at the Supreme Court as the justices prepare to ink rulings on mail-in ballots, executive branch firings and immigration.

  • Judge keeps state hospital records of transgender minors away from Trump administration

    San Francisco Chronicle
    June 9, 2026

    President Donald Trump’s Justice Department initially filed lawsuits seeking the records from hospitals nationwide, but nearly a dozen federal judges rejected their suits. In response, attorney Shannon Minter of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights said, the department then quietly opened criminal investigations and threatened to prosecute hospitals that did not release their records by this Wednesday.

  • Judicial Profile: Los Angeles County Judge Georgia A. Huerta

    Daily Journal
    June 10, 2026

    (Subscription required) After a 33-year career as a Los Angeles County prosecutor, Judge Georgia A. Huerta achieved a longtime goal of joining the bench. Now she's presiding over unlawful detainer cases in West Covina.

  • When reality is in doubt, news editors ask this Berkeley professor: Is it AI?

    San Francisco Chronicle
    June 9, 2026

    Farid, a UC Berkeley computer science professor who recently departed to teach at Dartmouth, is best known for his work as a deepfake detective, analyzing videos and images for traces of manipulation by digital or AI tools. Over the past year, deepfake content has grown at a rate of roughly 900%, according to the cybersecurity firm Deepstrike, driven by the rise of generative AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, ElevenLabs and Google’s Veo 3.

  • Man Not Freed From Mortgage by Assigning Debts to Wife

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    June 9, 2026

    Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held that although a marital settlement agreement provided that the wife would be awarded the marital home and would be responsible for “all debts thereon,” there was no implied obligation that the husband’s name be removed from the mortgage.

  • C.A. Overturns Arson of Grasslands Conviction Where Case Involves Residential Patch of Turf

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    June 9, 2026

    Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal yesterday upended a defendant’s conviction for arson of “grassland” where the fire in question was set to a green patch adjacent to a sidewalk on a busy residential street, saying that the presence of natural turf is insufficient to trigger the enhanced criminal sanctions applicable where the blaze affects certain types of natural features.