The U.S. Supreme Court on October 19, 2026, denied review in Hastings College Conservation Committee v. California, No. 25-1231, leaving in place California's 2023 law removing Serranus C. Hastings' name from the San Francisco law school. Six descendants and a group of alumni argued that the 1878 founding statute was a binding contract, but California courts held it was an ordinary law the Legislature could repeal.
The Supreme Court of California issued two unanimous opinions on Thursday ordering Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return approximately 650,000 voted ballots seized following the November 2025 special election. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero held that Elections Code section 15551, as it then read, prohibited removing ballots from election officials' custody even during criminal investigations. The court also held that Article V, Section 13 of the California Constitution grants Attorney General Rob Bonta binding supervisory authority over county sheriffs' investigations.