Deputy sentenced, man says wrongful arrest, transgender athlete case has ruling, Sept. 27 edition
It is Sunday, Sept. 28. As a reminder, all articles published two weeks ago are now free to read. You can find those articles here.
Weekly editions
It is Sunday, Sept. 28. As a reminder, all articles published two weeks ago are now free to read. You can find those articles here.
Victorville man sues, says held 223 days in jail despite exculpatory evidence
Gabriel Ortiz sued San Bernardino County on Sept. 17, claiming that the District Attorney’s Office withheld video evidence that cleared him of the shooting they alleged he committed.
Ortiz’s lawsuit said that no witnesses identified him as a shooter, and that no evidence presented him as a shooter. He further says that the Sheriff’s Department had video evidence of the shooters on Feb. 9, and that he did not match their physical description.
Trial over Loma Linda hospital guards’ wrestle with patient begins
Attorneys gave opening arguments Sept. 23 in an assault case brought by a patient of Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC). Jesse Simpson alleges he was assaulted and battered by two LLUMC security guards on Oct. 24, 2018, while attempting to get pain pills from the pharmacy. The alleged assault caused him to have two surgeries, his attorney, Daniel Balaban, said.
Defendants’ attorney Kenneth Pedroza said the guards were placing Simpson under a citizen’s arrest, to prevent him from harassing a hospital employee.
Riverside transgender high school athlete case pared down by judicial ruling
A lawsuit alleging a transgender student’s participation on the Martin Luther King High School cross country team violates Title IX was partially dismissed on Sept. 24.
California Central District Judge Sunshine Sykes kept the plaintiff’s claim that the school treated the transgender athlete better because of her gender identity. Sykes threw out the plaintiff’s other Title IX causes of action. She allowed the plaintiffs to amend the case and refile by Oct. 15.
Ex-Riv sheriff’s deputy gets probation for 2014 on-duty murder of girlfriend’s ex
A former sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Sept. 13 to one year in jail and 10 years of probation after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter. If he violates probation, Rodriguez will spend 10 years in state prison.
Oscar Rodriguez was charged with killing the father of his girlfriend’s children in Coachella on Jan. 27, 2014.
Inland Counties Legal Services joins Redlands Chamber of Commerce
The nonprofit legal aid organization Inland Counties Legal Services (ICLS) joined the Redlands Chamber of Commerce this week, in an effort to better market their programs.
ICLS Executive Director Tessie Solorzano said the counties have an need to provide access to justice in the Inland Empire, and that the main issue is cost. ICLS provides free legal services to qualifying individuals, including small businesses, senior citizens and people below the poverty line. At the Redlands Chamber ribbon cutting event, she encouraged people to ask if they qualify.
“Do not tell yourself no. You already have a know if you don’t ask,” Solorzano said.
Heather Gourlay, a field representative for Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear), and Ulysses Nera, a field representative for Assm. Robert Garcia (D-Rancho Cucamonga), both attended the ribbon cutting event. Their offices regularly refer constituents to ICLS, they said. Each representative, and Scott Ward, communications director for San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, gave the ICLS commendations.
60 retired county judges sign Declaration of Judicial Independence
“We will stand united in support of California’s judges and to the system of justice they serve. We will not allow irresponsible and false attacks on California’s judiciary to go unanswered.”
Department of Justice lawsuit claims Inland Empire Health Plan committed Medi-Cal fraud
The Inland Empire Health Plan kept $320 million that it should have given back to the federal government, a federal lawsuit claims.
The complaint claims that IEHP committed fraud by putting money for the medical care of new Medi-Cal patients towards non-medical expenses or the care of existing patients.
California law forbids ICE from making arrests at courthouses. Officers are showing up anyway
Local media have reported the detention of at least two dozen other people on the grounds of California court buildings in Stanislaus, Glenn, Los Angeles and Fresno counties, and NPR reports federal immigration detentions in state courthouses across the country, from the Chicago suburbs to a county south of Boston.
Sen. Alex Padilla visits San Diego immigration court: ‘This should not be a trap’
When Sen. Alex Padilla attended an immigration hearing at the federal courthouse in San Diego Wednesday, there were no confrontations with federal officials and no public arrests of people attending immigration check-ins.
Instead, the visit revealed the confusion involved in legal proceedings conducted in multiple languages, over virtual platforms, amid a federal campaign of mass deportations.
Bill to curb sex abuse settlements stalls, likely to return next year
California school leaders will have to wait until next year — if then — to see any relief from a surge of sexual abuse lawsuits that are costing them fat settlements and rising legal bills and insurance costs.
Lawmakers and others said they are frustrated by the collapse of legislation aimed at relieving a problem vexing school districts, cities and counties across the state. Meanwhile, advocates for victims said the rights of those abused as children by public employees to seek justice must come before fiscal concerns.
Senate Bill 577 by Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would have reinstated a statute of limitations on sex abuse claims involving public agencies that lawmakers repealed in 2020. The passage of Assembly Bill 218 has resulted in lawsuits alleging abuse dating back to as far as 1965, public records show.
California issues historic fine over lawyer’s ChatGPT fabrications
A California attorney must pay a $10,000 fine for filing a state court appeal full of fake quotations generated by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT.
The fine appears to be the largest issued over AI fabrications by a California court and came with a blistering opinion stating that 21 of 23 quotes from cases cited in the attorney’s opening brief were made up. It also noted that numerous out-of-state and federal courts have confronted attorneys for citing fake legal authority.
California shrank prisons with sentencing changes. A new study shows how that’s working
California over the past dozen years enacted a series of criminal justice laws that were meant to give more people an opportunity to be resentenced and thin out the state’s severely overcrowded prisons. This week a state agency released the most-comprehensive look yet at how those changes are playing out among formerly incarcerated people.
The report found low recidivism rates among people who were older and had served lengthy sentences. Those patterns contrasted with people serving shorter prison sentences for nonviolent crimes, which showed higher rates of recidivism, the majority of which were for misdemeanors.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to five years in prison: Republic’s judiciary frees itself
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a case related to the Libyan funding of his 2007 presidential campaign. Sentenced to five years in prison, he is due to appear in court on 13 October to learn the date of his incarceration. The unprecedented ruling marks a turning point in the practices of the French justice, which has gradually freed itself from political power. It also enshrines the Republican principle of full and complete equality of citizens before the law, which was proclaimed in 1789 but long remained theoretical, writes Parisian lecturer and author Vincent Sizaire.
Federal judge overturns part of Florida’s book ban law, drawing on nearly 100 years of precedent protecting First Amendment access to ideas
On Aug. 13, 2025, Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. Middle District of Florida ruled in Penguin Random House v. Gibson that parts of Florida HB 1069 are unconstitutional and violate students’ First Amendment right of free access to ideas.
The August 2025 ruling is in keeping with legal precedent around censorship. Over the years, U.S. courts have established that obscenity can be a legitimate cause for removing a book from the public sphere, but only under limited circumstances.
Harvard, like all Americans, can’t be punished by the government for speaking freely – and a federal court decision upholds decades of precedents saying so
When the federal government threatened to cancel billions in research funds from Harvard University – as it has also done to other research universities – the message was clear: Institutions that speak or think in ways elected officials dislike can expect to pay a price.
But in a recent ruling that underscored a principle at the heart of American democracy, a federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s move. The “government-initiated onslaught against Harvard was much more about promoting a governmental orthodoxy in violation of the First Amendment than about anything else,” U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs wrote.
Bolsonaro conviction breaks Brazil’s record of handing impunity to coup plotters and may protect its democracy from military interference
On Jan. 8, 2023, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, his close military and civilian associates and throngs of his supporters attempted to carry out a coup. It failed, and since then, those responsible have been held accountable through a series of investigations and prosecutions.
It culminated on Sept. 11, 2025, when the country’s highest court found Bolsonaro and his co-conspirators guilty of crimes against the country’s democratic institutions and rule of law.
News around the web
The sparse indictment of Comey by Trump’s Justice Department belies a complicated backstory
The indictment of former FBI Director James Comey is only two pages and alleges he falsely testified to Congress in 2020 about authorizing someone to be an anonymous source in news stories.
BYRON TAU
San Bernardino County bans homeless people from sleeping or storing belongings on public property | Hi-Desert Star
Orange County man held at IE facility becomes 14th immigrant to die in ICE custody | ABC7
Ryan Routh is found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at Florida golf course
Ryan Routh has been found guilty of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year.
DAVID FISCHER
Letter From The Publisher: Celebrating 3 Years Of The Riverside Record | Riverside Record
Judge limits the Angels’ legal options in Tyler Skaggs wrongful death case | Press-Enterprise
Journalist Mario Guevara Speaks - Letter from ICE DETENTION FACILITY — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
The only journalist detained by ICE on US soil, sends a letter to The Bitter Southerner.
FBI arrests Sacramento man in connection with ABC10 news station shooting after earlier release on bail | KCRA
‘Don’t fuck with Fresno.’ City leaders cheer legal victory over the Trump admin | Fresnoland
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations it duped customers into enrolling in Prime
Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission which said the online giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships, and made it difficult to cancel after they did so.
SALLY HO
Inglewood man awarded $25M for wrongful conviction after 38 years in prison | LAist
Everything you need to know about the closing stages of Google’s ad tech antitrust trial | Digiday
San Diego class-action suit says ICE courthouse arrests are illegal
The lawsuit filed in federal court by a San Diego law firm says the ICE strategy of arresting asylum seekers who show up for their immigration court hearings violates their rights and delegitimizes the legal process.
Gustavo Solis
Trump administration sued for union-busting at USAGM, Voice of America | TheDesk.net
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