Sykes stays on case, more suits against Riv. jails, DHS terminations enjoined

Good morning. It’s July 6.

We’re having a Fourth of July sale: one month of access for 40¢. That’s the same value as $15 in 1776. You can redeem the sale here.

In standing with the policy of lifting paywalls for old news, the articles from June 22 are now free to read. The keystone of that week was attorney James Otto Heiting’s commencement address to the Western State University College of Law. 

Today, we have an update on the case filed by Martin Luther King High School students, alleging the participation of a transgender athlete in the girls’ varsity team at a cross country race amounted to discrimination. The Riverside Unified School District, a defendant, asked California Central District Judge Sunshine Sykes to recuse herself due to her involvement in the Riverside Unified School District. She declined to do so. A motion to dismiss the case will be heard July 11. Read about it here.

Vem Miller, the plaintiff bringing a slander case against Riverside Sheriff and governor hopeful Chad Bianco, has replied to Bianco’s motion to dismiss Miller’s case. Bianco called Miller a “would-be Trump assassin.” Read it here.

Speaking of Bianco, three new cases were filed against Riverside County last week, alleging medical mismanagement of Riverside County jails. Two are wrongful death cases. Twelve Americans with Disability Act cases were also filed in the California Central District Court. Read the civil filing roundup here. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that rolls back CEQA, California’s landmark environmental protection law long accused of hold back development.

The termination of 10,000 Department of Health and Human Services employees is paused by injunction. Follow the other cases filed by California against the federal government here.

A class action lawsuit claims that the immigration raids in Los Angeles County violate the Constitution.

The Commission on Judicial Affair’s Judicial Fairness Coalition released 12 educational videos on judicial ethics. San Bernardino Superior Judges Sean Lafferty, Khymberli Apaloo, and John Pacheco, retired, are in six of them.

San Bernardino Superior Court is debuting a new website design. Check it out here. 

Other reporting

Redlands to pay $1.2 million to settle another sexual misconduct lawsuit by former police employee | Redlands Community Forward

San Bernardino County Sheriff defends pot raids at center of Native American church lawsuit | San Bernardino Sun

After earlier judicial action, courts allow Trump admin to send men to South Sudan | Law Dork

Paramount Will Pay President Trump $16 Million to Settle 60 Minutes Lawsuit | Columbia Journalism Review

DNA connects man to five cold-case rapes, kidnapping in Fresno, police say | Fresno Bee

Law360 mandates reporters use AI “bias” detection on all stories | Nieman Lab

California sues Trump administration for sharing Medicaid data with ICE | San Francisco Chronicle