Second District rejects facial Second Amendment challenges to California’s prohibitions on assault weapons, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, and large-capacity magazines, holding that these regulations survive scrutiny under Heller, Bruen, and the common use test.
Case Crawford v. State Court Supreme Court of Georgia Judge BETHEL (Nathan Deal, 2018) Date Decided April 21, 2026 Docket
The Ninth Circuit vacates an insider-trading conviction because the trial court failed to investigate a juror who said he was unsure of being impartial, instead asking the juror to monitor his own bias, in violation of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.
The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes’ challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel’s ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.
Case The State of Washington v. Samuel Leon Dugan Court Washington Court of Appeals, Division One Judge BOWMAN (Jay Inslee,
The California Supreme Court affirms the convictions and Bertsch’s death sentence in this 1985 kidnap-rape-murder case but reverses Hronis’s death sentence because of post-trial changes in the law governing a defendant’s mental competency to represent himself.
The Ninth Circuit holds that a federal contractor’s revocation of a Security Police Officer’s Part 1046 fitness-for-duty certification is reviewable under the ADA and is not the kind of national-security clearance decision insulated from review under Department of Navy v. Egan.
The Ninth Circuit holds that a California rape conviction under Penal Code section 261(a)(2) is a categorical match for the federal generic definition of rape, qualifying as an aggravated felony and defeating an illegal-reentry defendant’s collateral attack on his prior removal order.
Case Shanoah Walcott v. Commissioner of Correction Court Connecticut Appellate Court Judge Seeley (Ned Lamont, 2022) Date Decided April 14,
Case Alterna Aircraft V B Limited v. SpiceJet Limited Court Washington Supreme Court (En Banc) Judge GONZÁLEZ (Chris Gregoire, 2011)
The California Supreme Court reverses Omar Deen’s capital conviction and death sentence because the trial court failed to adequately examine whether a juror who had a personal connection to the murdered police chief harbored actual bias.
Sixth District holds that the probation department, not the trial court, decides eligibility for Penal Code section 1000.7’s young adult deferred entry of judgment pilot program and rejects separation of powers and abuse of discretion challenges to a denial based on out-of-county residence.
First District holds that Sonoma County’s IOLERO has subpoena authority under Government Code section 25303.7 to investigate whistleblower complaints against the Sheriff and orders enforcement of subpoenas issued to deputies.
Fourth District holds that Penal Code section 29820’s firearm prohibition for certain juvenile wards until age 30 is facially constitutional under both the Second Amendment Bruen framework and the Due Process Clause.
Fifth District holds that Penal Code section 292’s definitions of ‘acts of violence’ and ‘great bodily harm’ are constitutional under California Constitution article I, section 12, and that a no-bail order in a serious child sexual abuse case was supported by clear and
Fifth District holds that ‘great bodily injury’ in Penal Code section 832.7 carries the long-established Penal Code section 12022.7 definition of significant or substantial physical injury, requiring broader disclosure of police K-9 use-of-force records under the CPRA.
Case His Majesty The King v. Wayne Lester Singer Court Supreme Court of Canada (Canada) Date Decided March 20, 2026
First District holds that an Oakland voter initiative funding the Oakland Zoo violated the California Constitution by naming a private operator, but the offending references can be severed and the measure passed with the required simple majority.
Second District affirms denial of a writ challenge to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s 2023 housing-and-homelessness emergency declaration, holding section 8.33 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code is not preempted by the California Emergency Services Act.
Case Lukas Kostelecky v. Charity Erickson, et al. Court Supreme Court of North Dakota Judge Bahr (Doug Burgum, 2023) Date
Second District grants writ of mandate, holding that an indigent petitioner under California’s Racial Justice Act must show only a ‘plausible allegation’ of a violation to obtain counsel — not a prima facie showing of entitlement to relief — and may amend his petition to meet that
Case Kimberley Taylor and Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. His Majesty The King in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador and
Fourth District affirms a Gun Violence Restraining Order against a father whose adult son with a documented mental-health history threatened a mass shooting at a local high school, holding the order survives Second Amendment, vagueness, and overbreadth challenges.
Fourth District reverses a second-degree-murder conviction, holding that statements obtained from a defendant during an undercover Perkins operation were inadmissible under Miranda because the suspect had invoked his right to counsel and a known law-enforcement officer continued to ‘stimulate&