ICLS turns 67, arsonist's death sentence upheld, public defender's protection bill

Good morning,

It’s July 20. All the articles published on July 6 are now free to read, even without a subscription. Find that edition here.

Inland Counties Legal Services celebrated 67 years of operations on July 17. Staff and supporters gathered in Rialto’s Uptown Downtown Nightclub to celebrate. In 2025, the 158-employee nonprofit closed 9,353 cases, affecting 19,825 individuals. Five-thousand of those cases were for tenant defense. Seven-hundred and seven were for health care, 725 were consumer cases, and 609 were in family law. The nonprofit will hold its annual Advocates for Justice dinner Oct. 23, in Redlands' Mitten Building.

Sen. Eloise Gômes Reyes’ bill to protect public defenders from political firings passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee this week. A spokesperson for the state’s public defender’s association said that twice in the last week, public defenders have asked for guidance on how to navigate their constitutional duties without retaliation. Bill would protect public defenders from political firings. 

Arsonist Raymond Lee Oyler, convicted of starting a fire in 2006 that killed five firefighters, had his death sentence upheld by the California Supreme Court. The execution will not happen soon—Gov. Gavin Newsom still has a moratorium on death penalties. In a dissenting opinion, state Supreme Justice Kelli Evans writes that his penalty should have been overturned due to the exclusion of a juror. 

California Central District Judge John Holcomb threw out a Black man’s case alleging racial discrimination, excessive force and violation of civil rights at the hands of Hemet police officers. The plaintiff did not prove that they were stopped for race rather than his lack of a front license plate or a valid driver’s license, Holcomb found. 

Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) and Norma Torres (D-Ontario) were not allowed to examine conditions at the Adelanto ICE Detention Center—but Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear) was. Read it here.

The trial of Corona man Bryce McIntosh is postponed. McIntosh was charged in 2020 with the murder of his son. Trial was set for July 17. A trial readiness conference is scheduled for Aug. 25.

Social events

The Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire will attend the 66er’s game next Thursday, July 24, and on Tuesday, July 29, the San Bernardino County Bar Association will be watching the Redlands Bowl’s Pack Drumline performance at the Mission Gable House.

I hope to see you at the Sept. 17 recreation of the 1976 case Crawford v. LA Board of Education. This pivotal case about busing led to California Supreme Court precedent that de facto segregation is just as improper as de jure segregation. The judge in the case, Paul Egly, established the University of La Verne School of Law. Appropriately, the recreation will be held at the university, at noon. San Bernardino | Riverside American Board of Trial Advocates is running the recreation as a continuation of The James Otis Lecture Series. You can register to attend in person here, and register to attend by Zoom here.

Members of the Pride Bar Association of the Inland Empire watched the musical We Will Rock You at Ophelia’s Jump Productions’ Midsummer Theater, at the Sontag Greek Theater at Pomona College, Friday July 18.

Firm launches second year of training for clients

Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo is launching a 13-session training academy for school administrators. The online, hour-long morning trainings will be held every other week from Aug. 6 until May 20, and will cover free speech, emergency preparedness, Title IX, CEQA, property assessments and construction disputes, among seven other topics. Base cost is $1,450. Read more here.

DHS Secretary misgenders federal judge she calls an idiot 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem respond to United States Central District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong’s July 11 restraining order against ICE raids. 

“He’s (sic) an idiot. He’s frankly an idiot. We have all the right in the world to go out in the streets and to uphold the law and to do what we need to do. So none of our operations are going to change. He made claims that were absolutely false. We are building cases, we are going in, on doing our operations, and planning them, against individuals that we know are dangerous,” Noem said.

News from elsewhere

Former attorney sentenced to life without parole for 2008 murder of Palm Springs socialite | Palm Springs Post

Ex-officer who killed Riverside family in DUI crash gets 15 years to life | Press Enterprise

Fontana man admits stabbing wife to death because she was unfaithful, police say | Press Enterprise

Sentencing postponed for convicted Line Fire arsonist | Big Bear Grizzly

Two teens arrested in Redlands for attempted murder after altercation involving ghost gun | Community Forward Redlands

Officer charged with inappropriate conduct with two junior high students | Chino Champion

Justice Department requests lists of all noncitizen inmates being held in California jails | Los Angeles Times

US citizen says he was jailed for three days after California immigration raid | Reuters

Mom of 3 'abducted' by 'bounty hunters' in South LA charged with faking her own kidnapping: DOJ | Fox 11

Trump accuses Schiff of mortgage fraud, which Schiff calls false 'political retaliation' | Los Angeles Times

Drone Crackdown on Illegal Fireworks Yields 65 Citations, $97,500 in Fines | Raincross Gazette

‘Our hearts are heavy': Parole officer fatally shot in Oakland | NBC Bay Area

Burgum, Bondi Tour Alcatraz to Launch Trump Plan to Reopen Site as Federal Prison | KQED

California police are killing fewer people. The opposite is happening in red states | San Francisco Chronicle

Ex-wife of UC Berkeley professor shot in Greece arrested on suspicion of plotting his killing | San Francisco Chronicle