Ninth Circuit revives a Section 1983 deliberate fabrication claim against a Garden Grove detective whose police report significantly mischaracterized recorded witness statements on a critical issue in the case.
The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, reverses a district court that ended a $1.1 million civil forfeiture case as a discovery sanction, holding that the claimant established standing and gave the government enough information to investigate his ownership claim.
The Ninth Circuit reverses the denial of qualified immunity for a Gardena jail officer whose detainee committed suicide, finding that inconsistent information about the detainee’s suicide risk did not put the officer on clear constitutional notice—over a vigorous dissent.
The Ninth Circuit revived an asthma-based ADA accommodation claim that a California federal court had dismissed as time-barred, holding that the district court erred by failing to consider whether California’s worksharing agreement with the EEOC extended the charge-filing deadline to 300 days.
The Ninth Circuit held that a California conviction for assault with a firearm under Penal Code § 245(a)(2) is not a deportable aggravated felony, vacating a removal order and signaling that thousands of similarly situated non-citizens may have grounds for relief.
The Ninth Circuit reverses summary judgment for prison officials who denied a California prisoner prescription transitional lenses based on a blanket policy rather than individualized medical judgment, finding triable Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference issues.
The Ninth Circuit dismisses Chiquita Canyon landfill’s appeal of a preliminary injunction order, holding that an order finding injunction factors satisfied but directing further meet-and-confer on remedy terms is not an appealable injunction.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s habeas petition, finding his defense team’s strategic decisions did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel despite acknowledged shortcomings in trial performance.
Ninth Circuit affirms denial of Section 2255 habeas petition by former CEO convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction, finding overwhelming trial evidence defeated ineffective assistance and right-to-maintain-innocence claims.
The Ninth Circuit held that federal agencies likely violated the First Amendment by terminating University of California research grants based on recipients’ perceived viewpoints on DEI and environmental justice, while ruling that a separate class of grant termination challenges falls outside