Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

United States v. State of California — Ninth Circuit grants injunction barring enforcement of California’s No Vigilantes Act ID requirement against federal officers, holding the law violates the Supremacy Clause

/ April 22, 2026

The Ninth Circuit grants the United States an injunction pending appeal barring California from enforcing the No Vigilantes Act’s visible-identification requirement against federal officers, holding that the law likely violates the Supremacy Clause by directly regulating the federal government’s performance of its functions.

Constitutional Law, Litigation

Moving Oxnard Forward v. Lopez — Ninth Circuit en banc upholds Oxnard’s per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits against First Amendment challenge

/ April 22, 2026

Sitting en banc, the Ninth Circuit upholds the City of Oxnard’s voter-enacted per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits, holding the City sufficiently demonstrated an anti-corruption interest and that the limits are closely drawn to that interest under Randall v. Sorrell.

Constitutional Law, Litigation

J.R. v. Ventura Unified School District — Ninth Circuit holds IDEA’s two-year clock starts when parents reasonably suspect inadequate special education, not when a later diagnosis confirms it

/ April 22, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that the IDEA’s two-year statute of limitations starts when parents know or should know that the school district has failed to assess their child and that the child’s education is inadequate, time-barring the family’s claims for special-education services received before 2019.

Constitutional Law, Litigation

United States v. Bolandian — Ninth Circuit vacates insider-trading conviction, holding the trial court abdicated its duty to investigate a juror who said he might not be impartial

/ April 21, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacates an insider-trading conviction because the trial court failed to investigate a juror who said he was unsure of being impartial, instead asking the juror to monitor his own bias, in violation of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.

Constitutional Law, Environmental Law

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. U.S. Department of the Interior — Ninth Circuit denies en banc rehearing in dispute over BLM land exchange involving 1900 ceded reservation lands, leaving panel ruling for the tribes intact

/ April 21, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes’ challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel’s ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.

Business Transactions, Litigation

McAuliffe v. Robinson Helicopter — Ninth Circuit holds GARA’s rolling 18-year repose period restarts for replacement parts even without substantive alteration, reviving Hawaiian crash family’s wrongful-death suit against Torrance manufacturer

/ April 21, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that GARA’s rolling provision restarts the 18-year statute of repose for replacement aircraft parts even when the new part is identical to the original, reviving a wrongful-death suit against Torrance-based Robinson Helicopter Company over a fatal Hawaiian sightseeing crash.

Intellectual Property, Litigation

Brown v. Salcido — Ninth Circuit denies untimely intervention by absent class members trying to revive damages claims after Google Incognito settlement

/ April 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirms denial of intervention by 185 Chrome users who tried to enter the Google Incognito mode privacy class action to appeal the damages-class denial after settlement, holding the motion untimely under Rule 24.

Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Gessele v. Jack in the Box — Ninth Circuit reverses key wage-and-hour rulings, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks and shoe-cost deductions under Oregon law

/ April 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reverses key rulings in a long-running Jack in the Box wage-and-hour class action, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks under Oregon law and for non-slip shoe deductions, and ordering a trial on whether overdeductions for the Oregon Workers’ Benefit Fund were willful.

Business Transactions, Litigation

Panelli v. Target Corporation — Ninth Circuit revives California consumer class action over allegedly impossible 800-thread-count cotton sheets, holding a literally false claim can deceive even when its falsity is verifiable

/ April 17, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reverses dismissal of a California consumer class action against Target over allegedly impossible 800-thread-count cotton sheets, holding that the literally false advertising framework applies when a label is unambiguous and that a physically impossible claim can still deceive a reasonable consumer.

Business Transactions, Litigation

Brown v. The Brita Products Company — Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of California consumer suit, holding no reasonable consumer expects a $15 water filter to remove every contaminant

/ April 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of a California consumer class action against Brita, holding that no reasonable consumer would expect a low-cost water filter to remove every common contaminant when the packaging only claims to ‘reduce’ specific listed contaminants and directs buyers to a Performance Data Sheet.