⚖️ SC: J.O. v. Superior Court — blanket disqualification curtailed · May 28 ☠️ SC: death penalty racial-bias challenge to Sacramento trial court · May 27 🗳️ SB 73 signed — election safeguards effective immediately · May 27 🌫️ CARB adopts cap-and-invest overhaul · 10–3 vote · May 29 📎 CA5: Cortina v. North Am. Title Co. published · May 29 🔒 LA Sup. Ct.: CIPA pen-register limits to telephones · May 27 🏠 CA4/1: Guild Mortgage v. CrossCounty published · May 27 ⚖️ SC: J.O. v. Superior Court — blanket disqualification curtailed · May 28 ☠️ SC: death penalty racial-bias challenge to Sacramento trial court · May 27 🗳️ SB 73 signed — election safeguards effective immediately · May 27 🌫️ CARB adopts cap-and-invest overhaul · 10–3 vote · May 29 📎 CA5: Cortina v. North Am. Title Co. published · May 29 🔒 LA Sup. Ct.: CIPA pen-register limits to telephones · May 27 🏠 CA4/1: Guild Mortgage v. CrossCounty published · May 27

Sunday Edition · Bench, ballot, and regulatory reckoning · Week of May 25–31, 2026

Beyond
Solberg

In a unanimous published opinion, the Supreme Court of California held that courts may now scrutinize the legitimacy of repeated blanket challenges to individual judges — curtailing a half-century standard that allowed litigants to remove a jurist by affidavit alone, and adopting a Batson-style three-step inquiry when a party files hundreds of disqualification motions against the same bench officer.

Unanimous Published May 28, 2026 · No. S287285 · San Joaquin County conservatorship
J.O. v. Superior Court, No. S287285 (Cal. May 28, 2026) — Judicial Branch of California

Supreme Court of California · published May 28, 2026

J.O. v. Superior Court — a new framework for judicial disqualification

Case caption · No. S287285 · review of San Joaquin County Superior Court order

Justice Joshua Groban, writing for a unanimous court, concluded that Solberg v. Superior Court (1977) 19 Cal.3d 182 — which affirmed that blanket challenges do not substantially impair a court's duties — "is no longer tenable" given the realities of California's modern judiciary.

The opinion arose from a 2024 conservatorship in which San Joaquin County Counsel filed approximately 325 motions to disqualify Superior Court Judge Erin Guy Castillo after she admonished a deputy for misconduct. The subject, J.O., objected — and the high court now directs trial courts to employ a three-step procedure modeled on Batson v. Kentucky when evaluating whether repeated affidavit-based challenges are pretextual.

California Supreme Court sets new, tougher standard for blanket challenges of judges — The Recorder, May 28, 2026

Capital punishment · original jurisdiction · May 27, 2026

Office of the State Public Defender v. Bonta

"Extensive empirical evidence demonstrates that California's capital punishment scheme is administered in a racially discriminatory manner and violates the equal protection provisions of the state Constitution."

Writ petition · April 2024 · ACLU, NAACP LDF, and State Public Defender

Two years after civil rights groups filed directly with the Supreme Court, the justices unanimously ordered Attorney General Rob Bonta to show cause in Sacramento County Superior Court why the death penalty should not be declared unconstitutional on equal protection grounds. Bonta's return is due June 26, 2026. Petitioners cite studies showing Black defendants are up to 8.7 times more likely to receive a death sentence than all other groups combined.

California Supreme Court sends suit challenging death penalty to Sacramento trial court — The Recorder, May 27, 2026
SB 73

Elections Code · chaptered with urgency · May 27, 2026

Governor signs election safeguard bill days before June 2 primary

Senate Bill 73 (Cervantes and Umberg) took effect immediately upon Governor Gavin Newsom's signature, strengthening California's election protections ahead of the statewide direct primary. The law responds to the Riverside County Sheriff's seizure of more than 650,000 ballots from November's Proposition 50 election and broader concerns about unauthorized law enforcement access to voting systems.

IntroductionSigned · effective immediately
Senate
29–8
Assembly
57–19
Governor Newsom signs legislation to further protect California elections — Office of the Governor, May 27, 2026

CARB adopts cap-and-invest overhaul after two-day hearing

The California Air Resources Board voted 10–3 on May 29 to adopt major updates to the state's greenhouse gas cap-and-invest program, effective September 1, 2026. The package removes 118 million pollution allowances from the market by 2030, creates a Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive fund valued at up to $4 billion, and drew more than 1,000 written comments and hundreds of in-person speakers over two days of hearings.

Vote10–3 board adoption
EffectiveSeptember 1, 2026
2030 cap decline11% annual reduction
CARB adopts updates to California's Cap-and-Invest Program — California Air Resources Board, May 29, 2026

California Invasion of Privacy Act · Los Angeles Superior Court · May 27, 2026

Superior court limits CIPA pen-register provisions to telephone communications

Judge Gary Roberts granted NetScout Systems' demurrer with prejudice, holding that Penal Code section 638.51's pen register and trap-and-trace device provisions apply only to telephone communications — not to data-collection software development kits deployed on commercial websites. The ruling dismisses claims premised on web browsing analytics under CIPA's pen-register framework.

Court holding: "Applying the ordinary rules of statutory construction and considering both the structural context of Penal Code section 638.51 and the legislative history, the Court concludes that this statute applies to telephone communications and not to software on a commercial website."
Mintz privacy team secures landmark ruling in California Invasion of Privacy Act case — Mintz, May 29, 2026

Mortgage origination

Guild Mortgage Company

Plaintiff lender challenging competitor conduct in the residential mortgage market.

CrossCounty Mortgage · CA4/1 · May 27

The Fourth District, Division One published D085036 on May 27 in Guild Mortgage Company v. CrossCounty Mortgage, adding appellate authority on mortgage-industry disputes that origination counsel cite when evaluating competitive conduct, broker agreements, and lender liability in California's still-constrained housing finance market.

Guild Mortgage Company v. CrossCounty Mortgage, No. D085036 (Cal. Ct. App. May 27, 2026) — Judicial Branch of California
CA3
Div.
May
29

Third District Court of Appeal · family law · published May 29, 2026

Marriage of Capos

Division Three added C104120 to the published channel on May 29, continuing the Third District's output of certified family-law authority that trial departments and family law practitioners rely on when calendaring dissolution, support, and property-division disputes across the Sacramento Valley appellate district.

Marriage of Capos, No. C104120 (Cal. Ct. App. May 29, 2026) — Judicial Branch of California

Public records · CA4/1

Fourth District, Division One · published May 27, 2026

Voice of San Diego v. San Diego Unified School District

The appellate court published D084327 on May 27 in a dispute between a nonprofit news organization and the San Diego Unified School District — a data point for California Public Records Act and Brown Act counsel tracking how appellate panels evaluate journalist and watchdog access to school district documents and meeting records.

Voice of San Diego v. San Diego Unified School Dist., No. D084327 (Cal. Ct. App. May 27, 2026) — Judicial Branch of California

Attorney General · multistate comment letters · May 26–29, 2026

May 26

Bonta led 19 attorneys general opposing HHS proposed changes that could weaken LGBTQ+ discrimination protections in federally funded programs.

HHS comment letter
May 28

California joined a five-state coalition urging the FTC and DOJ to strengthen Hart-Scott-Rodino merger review after a Texas district court struck down revised reporting requirements.

HSR comment letter
May 29

A multistate coalition submitted comments opposing HUD's proposal to restrict HOME affordable-housing block grants based on immigration status, arguing the rule violates a prior litigation agreement.

HUD HOME comment letter

Second District · published May 26, 2026

Watson v. Professional Business Management Corporation

Published slip B343093

Division Eight added the opinion to the certified channel — another appellate data point in business-management and professional-services disputes that trial counsel cite when evaluating fiduciary and contract claims.

Niche precedent with statewide reach

While the week's headlines centered on the high court and the Governor's desk, the steady cadence of published Court of Appeal slips continues to reshape practice in specialized dockets that rarely make front-page news.

Watson v. Prof. Business Management Corp., No. B343093 (Cal. Ct. App. May 26, 2026) — Judicial Branch of California

The Week Ahead · June 1 – June 8, 2026

Dates to watch across California law

The June 2 statewide direct primary closes a legislative sprint that included SB 73's urgency signing, budget conference committees accelerate toward the June 15 constitutional deadline, and the Supreme Court's Monday/Thursday publication rhythm continues as capital-punishment briefing deadlines approach.

Statewide direct primary election

SB 73's urgency provisions are now in effect for the June 2 statewide primary — election-law practitioners monitor county registrar protocols and any law-enforcement access requests under the new statutory framework.

Senate Bill 73 — California Legislative Information

Constitutional budget passage deadline

The Legislature must send a balanced budget to the Governor by June 15 — conference committees reconcile May Revision figures with legislative priorities and trailer-bill shells.

California eBudget — Department of Finance
What is Legally Brief?