Recent Legal Challenges to California Statutes

2025 has been an interesting year for legal challenges against statutes enacted by the California Legislature. While the following list is not exhaustive, this is a good sampling of pending or completed litigation to be aware of:

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted a partial injunction blocking enforcement of the climate-related financial risk disclosure law, SB 261.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has sued over the state voters’ enactment of Prop. 50 at the November special election.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has sued over the enactment of the anti-masking bill, SB 627.

• The California Court of Appeal for the Fifth District upheld a 2023 statute on card-check unionization for farm workers.

• A U.S. District Court Judge enjoined from enforcement the law banning so-called “captive audience meetings,” SB 399.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has sued over the enactment of legislation that provides in-state tuition and financial aid to undocumented students.

• A lawsuit has been filed challenging the prohibition of fee-sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by non-lawyers, AB 931.

• After a federal district court struck the law down, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the law requiring background checks for ammunition purchases.

• The California Supreme Court upheld the 2017 statute providing the LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Bill of Rights which, among other things, prohibits staff at LTCF from willfully and repeatedly failing to use a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of them.

• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a law that empowers PERB to step in and enforce labor rights for private-sector workers in specified circumstances, AB 288.

These examples go to demonstrate that, while the legislative branch of government is granted the lawmaking authority under the California Constitution, those statutory enactments are still subject to state and federal judicial branch review and ultimate determination whether they will remain in law.