Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits

Supreme Court overrules landmark precedent on government authority  

The Supreme Court overruled a key administrative law ruling Friday, tossing out four decades of precedent and limiting the government’s ability to interpret federal laws. “Chevron is overruled,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the conservative supermajority. “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the APA requires.”

Courthouse News Service

Supreme Court throws out obstruction charges lodged against hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the most severe charges lodged against more than 300 of the violent insurrectionists who broke into the U.S. Capitol three years ago. In a 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative majority said the rioters may not be prosecuted under a financial recordkeeping law that criminalized destroying evidence and obstructing an official proceeding.

Los Angeles Times

Visa, Mastercard $30 billion swipe-fee deal blocked by judge

A federal judge in Brooklyn formally rejected a $30 billion settlement between Visa, Mastercard and retailers to cap credit-card swipe fees after telegraphing earlier this month that such a setback in the two-decade long litigation could be expected. US District Judge Margo Brodie issued the ruling Tuesday, and ordered the parties to confer and respond to the ruling by June 28.

Bloomberg

U.S. Supreme Court ruling reinstates ability to perform emergency abortions in Idaho under ban

Emergency abortion care can continue in Idaho without fear of prosecution of physicians now that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday remanding a case about emergency abortions in the state back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The 2022 case came soon after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that June that overturned Roe and returned regulation of abortion procedures to the states. 

Michigan Advance

US wants Boeing to plead guilty to fraud over fatal crashes, lawyers say

The U.S. Justice Department is pushing Boeing to plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners, according to several people who heard federal prosecutors detail a proposed offer Sunday. Boeing will have until the end of the coming week to accept or reject the offer, which includes the giant aerospace company agreeing to an independent monitor who would oversee its compliance with anti-fraud laws, they said.

AP

Supreme Court rules Trump has limited immunity in January 6 case, jeopardizing trial before election

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Donald Trump may claim immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the actions he took in the waning days of his presidency in a decision that will likely further delay a trial on the federal election subversion charges pending against him. In the most closely watched case before the Supreme Court this year, the ruling rejects a decision from a federal appeals court in February that found Trump enjoyed no immunity for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election results.

CNN

Carjacking is not a ‘crime of violence’ justifying deportation - Ninth Circuit

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a carjacking conviction under California Penal Code §215 does not categorically qualify as an aggravated felony “crime of violence” for purposes of deportation as the state statute - unlike its federal counterpart - permits prosecution where the taking was accomplished without force and imposes a lower intent requirement.

Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Supreme Court turns down a 2nd Amendment challenge to state bans on assault weapons

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a 2nd Amendment challenge to state laws in Illinois that prohibited the sale of rapid-fire assault weapons. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented. Had the court granted the appeals, it would have threatened California’s long-standing ban of most rapid-fire assault rifles as well.

Los Angeles Times

Gun rights groups sue to block California’s new tax on firearms

Gun rights groups filed a 2nd Amendment challenge Tuesday to a new California law that slapped an extra tax on firearm and ammunition sales in an attempt to reduce gun violence. The Firearms Policy Coalition said it filed the complaint on its members’ behalf in San Diego County Superior Court. Other plaintiffs included the National Rifle Assn., the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. and the Second Amendment Foundation.

Los Angeles Times

George Gascon's Office

So what exactly was LA's 'ethics and integrity' chief doing as she illegally downloaded 1,600 police records?

In the world of Soros district attorneys in big blue cities, it's amazing what passes for 'ethics and integrity' in policing the police. Fox News's Bill Melugin has gotten hold of the actual arrest affidavit of Diana Teran, the top deputy to District Attorney George Gascon, who was busted last April for illegally accessing and downloading 11 police records, each act a felony, for her own purposes.

American Thinker

Video shows LA DA George Gascon's right-hand man arrested in DUI stop: 'You've pulled over the wrong person'

Newly released video shows Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon's top aide arrested after interrupting police who pulled over his then-fiance during a traffic stop on their way home from a wedding in 2021. Joseph Iniguez, the current No. 2 prosecutor in Los Angeles, was riding shotgun when police pulled the couple over for a suspected traffic violation.

Fox News

Unsealed affidavit in criminal case against George Gascon's 'Ethics' Deputy reveals depths of corruption

A recently-unsealed affidavit in the criminal case pending against Los Angeles County DA George Gascón's Ethics and Integrity Assistant shows how Gascón’s management team believes they are above accountability and gives a stunning behind-the-scenes look of how Soros DA lieutenants operate on behalf of their elected bosses. That Assistant District Attorney, Diana Teran, was arrested in late April and charged with 11 felonies related to the "unauthorized use of data from confidential, statutorily-protected peace officer files.

RedState

Jewish prosecutors in blue city blow whistle on alleged antisemitism in DA's office

A growing number of deputy district attorneys in Los Angeles says they have concerns about antisemitism in the office after months of silence on the issue from their boss, which culminated in clashes between anti-Israel agitators and counter-protesters outside a synagogue in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in the city.

Fox News

Soros DA Gascon extends grisly record of “second chance killings”

Less than a year after being released from prison early for a murder conviction thanks to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s soft-on-crime policies, 25-year-old Denmonne Lee has been charged with another killing. In 2018, Lee participated in a gas station robbery in Antelope Valley, California. He, along with co-defendant Deonta “Fatboy” Johnson, was charged with the murder of Marine veteran John Rue in the process of committing the robbery.

Amac

Gascón advisor, LA prosecutor Diana Teran denies felony charges as arraignment is postponed

The attorney for a lead Los Angeles County prosecutor facing 11 felony charges in connection with alleged misuse of confidential police records argued Monday that no crime has been committed. California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the charges against Diana Teran in late April, alleging she misused records she accessed while working at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department once she was employed at the LA County District Attorney's Office. 

KCAL News

Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascón announces charges against man in sexual assault of three teenagers

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Friday that William Thomas Jr., a photographer who represented himself as a modeling industry expert, is charged with sexually assaulting three teenagers as each were pursuing modeling careers in Los Angeles between 2017-2023. “The courage these young survivors have shown in coming forward after enduring this unimaginable trauma and suffering cannot be overstated, and we stand with them in their pursuit of justice and healing,” District Attorney Gascón said.

Sierra Sun Times

Orange County DA, residents speak out after driver with 4 previous DUIs arrested in hit-and-run

Orange County's District Attorney Todd Spitzer and local residents are speaking out after a driver with four previous DUIs on his record was arrested this week in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash, followed by a brief chase. Jonathan Lopez, 31, of Orange, is accused of hitting a pedestrian just before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of North Tustin Street, according to the Orange Police Department.

ABC7 Los Angeles

Man charged with murdering his father in Long Beach

A Pomona man has been charged with murdering his father in Long Beach, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced today. Juan Manuel Morales Jr., 35, was set to be arraigned Friday in a Long Beach courtroom in connection with the death of his 59-year-old father, Juan Manuel Morales Sr., according to the District Attorney’s Office.

City News Service

L.A. prosecutors say Killer Mike won't be charged in alleged Grammy Awards battery

Los Angeles prosecutors said Monday they will not file charges against Atlanta hip-hop artist Killer Mike in an alleged altercation at the Grammy Awards in February. In a statement, the City Attorney's Office indicated that the artist, whose real name is Michael Render, had “successfully completed the Office’s Hearing process, including a community service requirement that was imposed.” 

NBC News

Ballot measure madness: How California lawmakers are scrambling the November list

A flurry of dealmaking, largely brokered by the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, is radically transforming the November ballot at the last minute, with agreements to withdraw a record number of measures before a key deadline this week and potentially even more changes yet to come next week. Against a backdrop of Democratic anxiety over voter turnout and campaign resources for the November election - where California could play a crucial role in helping Democrats win back control of the U.S. House - Newsom and legislative leaders have maneuvered to reshape the swath of issues that voters will decide this fall.

CalMatters

When can a police officer disobey an order?

Two days ago, I wrote in this space on Sunday's debacle in Los Angeles, at which pro-Palestinian (read pro-Hamas, pro-murder, pro-hostage-taking, pro-rape) demonstrators shut down access to the Adas Torah Synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood. LAPD officers were slow to respond and ineffectual when they did respond, leading to speculation on social media that they were ordered to stand down in the face of pro-Palestinian provocation.

PJ Media

Doxxing victims in California may gain right to sue to 'bring some power back'

When Kathie Moehlig’s personal information was leaked online five years ago, she didn’t believe she had options to fight back. “There was no recourse that I had to be able to go and have this individual held accountable for the risk at which they put myself and my family,” said the founder of TransFamily Support Services. A bill now before the California Legislature aims to change that. Doxxing - when someone shares another’s personal information online with the intent to harm - is a crime.

CalMatters

SoCal fentanyl dealers face murder charges, prison time as one mother warns: 'They're coming for you'

About a month after dealing fentanyl that killed a 26-year-old San Bernardino County man, Javier Cruz was pulled over as he drove away from his apartment in Ontario. Inside his pocket, officers found 22 fentanyl-laced pills. When they searched his home afterward, they found another 1,564 pills laced with the drug. Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine, and just two milligrams of pure fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. A teaspoon of sugar contains 4,000 milligrams.

KCAL News

Nathan Hochman raises record $1.3M in L.A. County D.A.’s race for November 2024 general election

Nathan Hochman, the former federal prosecutor and defense attorney who has a wide polling lead in the race for Los Angeles County District Attorney, today announced that he has raised a record of more than $1.3 million in his general election campaign to defeat George Gascon and restore public safety in Los Angeles County.

LAG Strategy Corp

For the first time since 2018, homeless count finds fewer people living on L.A. streets

After climbing for the last five years, overall homelessness leveled off in Los Angeles this year, with fewer people living on the streets, according to the annual count released Friday. The 2024 count, representing a snapshot taken in January, appeared to show the effects of city and county programs to clear out encampments by moving people from tents, makeshift shelters and vehicles into hotels, motels and other forms of temporary housing.

Los Angeles Times

LAPD seeks more victims after sexual assault suspect targets middle school students in Koreatown

Los Angeles Police Department detectives are seeking the public's help in identifying additional sexual assault victims after a man was accused of targeting middle school students in Koreatown. Kenneth Tellez Ordonez, 25, was arrested on June 12 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl back in April.

ABC7 Los Angeles

Dozens graduate from LAPD's Spanish Community Police Academy

Dozens of bilingual residents are now proud graduates of a program created by the Los Angeles Police Department that aims to strengthen the relationship between Spanish-speaking community members and officers. The group received their certificates Thursday after completing the LAPD Spanish Community Police Academy. More than 100 volunteers attended classes for eight weeks that provided an inside look at how the department operates and law enforcement altogether.

ABC7 Los Angeles

‘Significant’ budget cuts will lead to reduction in services for L.A. County Superior Court, officials say

The Los Angeles County Superior Court is responding to “significant” state budget cuts by reducing the number of services they offer. Governor Gavin Newsom signed California’s 2024 budget on Saturday and called it “more fiscally responsible,” saying that the $16 billion in spending cuts will help close the state’s $47 billion deficit. 

KTLA5 Los Angeles

LA City oks $21M settlement with families impacted by LAPD fireworks explosion

Just two days after the third anniversary of the Los Angeles Police Department’s botched fireworks disposal that damaged homes and displaced dozens of families in South Los Angeles, the City Council Tuesday approved settlement agreements totaling more than $21 million with some of the affected residents.

mynewsLA.com

Prop 47

Cynical attempts to block Prop 47 fixes must end

On a key question involving criminal justice, states across the nation have made a basic mistake: They reject 100-plus years of evidence from developed nations across the world that crime is mostly a young man’s game. So they lock up tens of thousands of aging prisoners, at extreme expense, for no logical reason. In California, criminal justice reformers have made a basic mistake in the opposition direction. Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014, reclassified many nonviolent property and drug crimes as misdemeanors.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Will it stay or will it go? California voters decide fate of ‘momentous’ criminal justice law

California voters will get to decide whether a law that was heralded as a breakthrough in criminal justice reform will remain intact, the latest signal that anxieties and fear around crime have risen to the top of the state’s political agenda in this election year. A measure to undo much of Proposition 47, the landmark 2014 law that downgraded several non-violent felonies to misdemeanors, officially made it on to the ballot on Friday. 

Guardian

Gavin Newsom backs down on crime measure

In a stunning, last-minute reversal, Gov. Gavin Newsom is scrapping the anti-crime measure he and Democratic legislative leaders just announced. It had been designed to compete with one backed by Republicans and prosecutors that is already headed for voters in November. In a statement tonight, the governor said Democrats “are unable to meet the ballot deadline to secure necessary amendments to ensure this measure’s success and we will be withdrawing it from consideration.” 

CalMatters

Multi-agency task force leads to major arrests in auto theft and drug investigation

Over recent months, the San Bernardino County Auto Theft Task Force (SANCATT) has led an extensive investigation into a series of auto thefts and cargo thefts from trains. This complex operation culminated on June 20, 2024, with a multi-agency effort spanning three counties in California and one location in Arizona.

Victor Valley News Group

Robbery suspect killed in crash after victim chases, rams them off-road

A suspect who allegedly robbed another man at a Los Angeles gas station was killed in a crash after the victim pursued him. Initial reports later confirmed by the Los Angeles Police Department indicate a 21-year-old man was at a gas station in the city’s West Adams neighborhood on Saturday evening when a group of armed men approached and robbed him.

KTLA Los Angeles

2 LAPD officers injured when armed suspect opens fire at cruiser

An LAPD traffic stop Wednesday night nearly became deadly when an assailant pulled out a weapon without warning and began firing at two officers, police said. The officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One had a graze wound in the head; the other was injured by shattered glass, police said. 

Los Angeles Times

New law will require California bars, nightclubs provide date rape drug testing kits

As of Monday, establishments that sell alcohol to consumers across the state will be required to provide on-site drug testing kits to those that ask. The law, formerly Assembly Bill 1310, would allow consumers to request the kits to test if there is the presence of “roofies”, substances used to spike drinks, which are often associated with the intent to commit sexual assault. With the law in place, it gives some peace of mind.

NBC Bay Area

States split on mandating or prohibiting credit card tracking on gun sales

Beginning Monday, a California law will require credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard to provide banks with special retail codes that can be assigned to gun stores in order to track their sales. But new laws will do the exact opposite in Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and Wyoming by banning the use of specific gun shop codes.

AP

Rudy Giuliani officially disbarred in New York for Trump election interference efforts

The New York state Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani over his part in Donald Trump’s election interference efforts in 2020. The long-expected disbarment of Trump’s most high-profile lawyer, which is effective immediately, is a major blow to the former public official at a time he faces fallout for spreading lies about the 2020 election. 

Riverside County man who trafficked pound quantities of fentanyl and cocaine sentenced to 19 Years in prison

A Hemet man was sentenced today to 228 months in federal prison for knowingly mailing pound quantities of fentanyl and marijuana, possessing more than four pounds of fentanyl and more than 35 pounds of cocaine in his house and for illegally possessing firearms, including one so-called “ghost” machinegun lacking a serial number. Ignacio Alcala, 38, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha.

U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California

A successful conviction: City attorney secures jail sentences for child sexual abusers

On June 26, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced that her office successfully secured an eight-year jail sentence and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for Danilo Gamboa, who was convicted of 14 charges related to the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old minor. Additionally, Gamboa was found guilty of child endangerment for causing physical and mental harm to another younger minor. 

LA Downtown

Former classmate found guilty in murder of gay teen Blaze Bernstein

Samuel Woodward, a California man accused of murdering his former classmate in 2018, has been found guilty in the hate crime case. Blaze Bernstein - a 19-year-old gay, Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania - went missing while visiting his family in Newport Beach during winter break in January 2018. His body was found following a dayslong search buried in a park in Lake Forest he went to with Woodward the night he went missing, authorities said. He had been stabbed 28 times, prosecutors said.

ABC7 Los Angeles

Inmate’s death at Northern California prison being investigated as a homicide, CDCR says

Authorities said the death of an inmate Thursday at a state prison in Lassen County is being investigated as a homicide after he was found unresponsive in his cell, corrections officials said. Guards found Hector Hernandez unconscious at 12:34 a.m. as they were completing rounds at High Desert State Prison in Susanville. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in a news release did not say how Hernandez died and a coroner’s report on his death was pending.

Sacramento Bee

California prisoner who escaped in 2011 is caught in New York City, faces extradition

 A man who escaped from a California prison camp in 2011 has been captured in New York City, officials announced Friday. Authorities said Eduardo Hernandez, 42, was arrested without incident May 20 and will soon be extradited back to California, where he could face charges for his escape in Solano County.

Los Angeles Times

Kern Valley State Prison officials investigating the death of an incarcerated person as a homicide

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the June 28, 2024, death of an incarcerated person at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) as a homicide. At 8:06 p.m., three incarcerated persons, Michael Brown, Jerry Dunham, Rex Dickey allegedly attacked another incarcerated person, Dwight Gibbs. Staff quickly stopped the incident, restraining the three incarcerated individuals without further incident. 

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

OpenAI sued by Center for Investigative Reporting over AI plagiarism

The United States' oldest nonprofit newsroom sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Microsoft in federal court in New York Thursday, accusing the tech companies of using copyrighted content to train their artificial intelligence programs. "According to the award-winning website Copyleaks, nearly 60% of the responses provided by defendants’ GPT-3.5 product contained some form of plagiarized content, and over 45% contained text that was identical to pre-existing content," the Center for Investigative Reporting claimed in its 33-page complaint.

Courthouse News Service

Misinterpreted words: 7 common errors in everyday vocabulary

Language is an essential tool for communication, but it's not always as straightforward as we'd like. Even the most articulate individuals can sometimes misuse or misinterpret words in their everyday vocabulary. This is not only confined to those learning English as a second language but also native speakers. Here are seven commonly misinterpreted words, their proper uses, and ways to avoid these common errors.

Words Trivia

Steve Bannon says "no regrets" about defying subpoena, going to prison

Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he has "no regrets" about defying a congressional subpoena, characterizing himself as a "political prisoner." Bannon must report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence after the Supreme Court rejected his request to delay his looming prison sentence Friday. 

AXIOS

Editorial: Fossil fuel divestment should be higher priority in California

In a state whose leaders speak with urgency about fighting climate change, it’s shameful and hypocritical that CalPERS and CalSTRS have billions of dollars in public employees’ retirement money invested in planet-wrecking fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell. Lawmakers were considering changing that by forcing the nation’s two largest public pension funds to divest their holdings in big oil, gas and coal companies by 2031. Legislation to do so cleared the state Senate last month.

Los Angeles Times

LACERA wins court decision backing Its authority over employee compensation, classification

California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association has the authority to set salaries and employment classifications for its employees, authority which had been called into question by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. “The decision was a major win for LACERA, and any pension fund in the 2nd District Court of Appeal would be covered by this ruling,” a LACERA spokesperson tells CIO.

chief investment officer