• Judge Orders Huntington Beach to Adopt Housing Plan

    Voice of OC
    December 20, 2025

    Huntington Beach officials have about four months to get a housing plan approved by state leaders. In the meantime, they can’t turn down most developer’s projects. It’s the newest chapter in Surf City’s yearslong battle with state leaders over mandated zoning requirements, which city leaders have argued violates their rights as a charter city. 

  • City Not Barred From Issuing Bonds for Unfunded Liabilities

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    December 19, 2025

    The California Supreme Court held yesterday that the City of San José is not precluded by a so-called “pay-as-you-go” debt limitation enshrined in the state Constitution from financing unfunded liability in its employee retirement plans through the issuance of bonds without first seeking voter approval.

    Related: Daily Journal, Supreme Court of California - Opinion

  • LASC Judge Debra Archuleta Draws Public Admonishment

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    December 19, 2025

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debra R. Archuleta yesterday received a public admonishment from the judicial oversight body for engaging “in a pattern of discourteous, undignified, and impatient behavior,” with the commission highlighting that, in multiple instances, she “treated parents and children as if they were criminal defendants, instead of participants in dependency court.”

    Related: The Recorder, Daily Journal

  • Lifetime Ban on Contact With Pets Was Imposed Unlawfully as Condition of Probation—C.A.

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    December 19, 2025

    A woman who pled guilty to felony animal cruelty was improperly required, as a condition of probation, not to possess or have contact with pets for the rest of her life, Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held.