Judicial appointments, wrongful conviction litigation, Aug. 10 edition
Good morning,
It's August 10. As a reminder, all articles published on July 27 are now free to read, regardless of subscription. Among the headlines: Feds charge Ontario surgery center staff for ICE interference, 9th Circuit affirms deportation of Mexican band member threatened by cartel, Birthright citizenship order enjoined again. You can find those articles here.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the appointments of San Bernardino Superior Judge Corey Lee to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, and of prosecutor Maggie Yang to the county court on Aug. 7.
Lee has served as a judge since 2015, when she was appointed by then-Governor Jerry Brown. From 2008 to 2015, she worked as a deputy chief assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to Newsom's announcement. Immediately prior, she worked in the San Bernardino District Attorney's Office. From 2004 to 2007, Lee worked in the Riverside District Attorney's Office. From 2003 to 2004, Lee clerked in the Department of Justice's Executive Office of Immigration Review. Her nomination is dependent on the approval of the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Lee graduated from Loyola Law School.
Yang, Newsom's appointment to San Bernardino Superior Court, has been a San Bernardino prosecutor since 2007. She graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Wrongfully convicted: 9th Circuit affirms Judge Slaughter’s denial of qualified immunity in Corona case
Kimberly Long, a mother cleared of her 2005 murder conviction, will be able to bring the police officers who investigated her case to court.
Long’s second amended complaint, filed Jan. 26, 2023, claims that the officers hid evidence in her favor and manipulated witnesses against her when they investigated her for the 2003 murder of her boyfriend, Oswaldo Conde.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal found Aug. 4 that California Central District Judge Fred Slaughter properly ruled that the five officer defendants are not protected under California’s police officer immunity law.
Read it here.
Norco prison to close because of falling inmate population
Norco for years has been lobbying to close the California Rehabilitation Center, arguing the city can find a better use for the site. It was an art deco hotel before it was a state prison.
Now, the prison is on track to close in 2026. Newsom’s corrections department said on Tuesday that the prison is no longer needed because of the state’s falling incarcerated population.
Read it here.
Northern District judge sets hearing for feds to prove they did not violate funding injunction
A federal judge on Aug. 5 ordered lawyers for the Trump administration to explain why last week’s suspension of about 300 UCLA grants by the National Science Foundation does not run afoul of that judge’s June order barring the agency from terminating additional grants.
Read it here.
The case that saved the press – and why Trump wants it gone
Professor Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin of Boise State University on New York Times v. Sullivan:
Trump made overturning Sullivan a talking point during his first campaign for president; his lawsuits now put that threat into action. And they raise the question: What happened in Sullivan, and why does it still matter?
Read it here.
Football and faith could return to the Supreme Court – this time, over loudspeakers
Professor Charles Russo of University of Dayton on prayers before games:
With the start of another high school football season around the corner, a long-simmering dispute has heated up: prayers at games.
Kennedy v. Bremerton, the case of a high school football coach praying on the field after games, has been in the spotlight since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. But another football controversy first emerged in 2015, when two Christian schools in Florida made it to the state championships. The games were run by the state’s high school athletic association, a government body.
California Supreme Court hands victory to rooftop solar panel owners
In a unanimous vote, justices told a lower court to revisit a ruling that upheld reduced payments to solar panel owners for selling excess power back to utility companies.
Read it here.
Small bits
Probate attorney Sam Price’s podcast has a new episode this week, with real estate agent Justin Fautsch.
Calendar
Aug. 14 San Bernardino County Bar Association's A Night at the Museum, San Bernardino
Aug. 16 Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire Summer Family BBQ in Fontana
Aug. 19 Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire’s networking event, Riverside
Aug. 25 Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire’s reenactment of Lopez v. Seccombe, San Bernardino Justice Center
Sept. 11 Riverside County Bar Association Installation Dinner, Mission Inn
Sept. 17 San Bernardino | Riverside American Board of Trial Advocate’s reenactment of Crawford v. Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles, University of La Verne
Law from around the world
AG Bill Essayli Orders Cases His Staff Say Lack Evidence | Bloomberg Law
Corona woman suspected of stabbing husband to death | Press Enterprise
Riverside County deputy arrested, accused of misusing confidential databases | Press Enterprise
Duo accused of pimping out runaway girl in Riverside, other locations | Press Enterprise
Search warrant served in Hemet in 2023 Redlands missing person case | Community Forward Redlands
Florida Sues Huge Porn Sites Including XVideos and Bang Bros Over Age Verification Law | 404 Media
Inside the fringe movement teaching Americans to punish officials with fake debt claims | LA Times
Ken Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to expel 13 House Democrats over redistricting standoff | Texas Tribune
Judge blocks Beto O’Rourke from financially supporting Texas Democrats who left the state | Texas Tribune
US citizens jailed in LA Ice raids speak out: ‘They came ready to attack’ | The Guardian
Trump’s War on Big Law Means It’s Harder to Challenge the Administration | ProPublica
Lucasfilm and Disney settle with actor Gina Carano following her firing from ‘The Mandalorian’ | AP
US condemns Brazil supreme court judge for ordering house arrest of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro | The Guardian
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