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

  • Oversight of sheriff’s offices affirmed by California Supreme Court

    San Francisco Chronicle
    July 8, 2026

    County governments in California can establish agencies to oversee their sheriff’s offices and obtain their records under a ruling affirmed Wednesday by the state Supreme Court. The justices unanimously denied an appeal by Sonoma County sheriff’s officers and their union of a lower-court ruling upholding the authority of an independent agency established by county supervisors in 2016 and strengthened by a ballot measure approved by local voters in 2020.

  • Repeated References to ‘Hispanic Gang’ by Expert Witness Didn’t Breach RJA—C.A.

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 9, 2026

    Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that repeated references by the prosecution’s expert witness to the defendant’s membership in a Hispanic gang—which he testified  are groups associated with violence and criminality—did not run afoul of the 2020 statute barring convictions predicated on the accused’s ancestry..

  • On-Job Anti-Gay Abuse Is Sexual Harassment Under FEHA

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 9, 2026

    An employee’s claim of abusive on-the-job treatment based on his homosexuality constitutes an allegation of “sexual harassment,” Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has held, declaring that this renders his causes of action exempt from arbitration, under a federal statute.

  • Judicial Profile: Los Angeles County Commissioner Aleen Avanesian

    Daily Journal
    July 8, 2026

    (Subscription required) After nearly two decades prosecuting misdemeanor cases for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, Commissioner Aleen M. Avanesian now presides over child support and parentage matters, emphasizing careful preparation, patience and ensuring every litigant feels heard.

  • ‘Could Be Convicted’ Today Is Not Resentencing Standard

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 8, 2026

    Div. Four of the First District Court of Appeal has held that, at evidentiary hearings aimed at determining whether retroactive amendments to the felony murder rule undermine a defendant’s conviction, courts are to ask whether prosecutors have shown that the suspect is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and not whether the suspect could be convicted of the charge under current law.

  • 9th Circuit Mulls First Amendment Challenge to California's Mandatory Meeting Law

    The National Law Journal
    July 7, 2026

    (Subscription required) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday weighed the constitutionality of a California law that bars employers from disciplining workers who decline to attend meetings about religious or political matters unrelated to their job duties.

    Related: Daily Journal, Reuters

  • Justices Kagan and Barrett on tap to testify on Capitol Hill next week

    Politico
    July 7, 2026

    Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan will appear July 14 before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which has jurisdiction over the annual spending measure that funds the Supreme Court, according to a scheduling announcement from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole.