U.S.Court order
Supreme Court declines Hastings descendants' challenge to UC Law San Francisco renaming
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.
Order (Supreme Court of the United States) → · San Francisco Chronicle, ABA Journal
Key points
- The one-sentence denial noted no dissents.San Francisco ChronicleABA Journal
- The school, now UC College of the Law, San Francisco, was renamed after evidence that Hastings ordered militia killings of Native Americans in the 1860s.San Francisco ChronicleABA Journal
- The 1878 law said the school "shall forever be known" by Hastings' name in exchange for his $100,000 founding gift.San Francisco Chronicle
- The plaintiffs also sought return of the $100,000 gift plus interest.San Francisco ChronicleABA Journal
- A lawyer for the descendants called the decision disappointing; the school said it welcomed the end of the case.San Francisco Chronicle
Sources3 articles across 3 outlets
ABA Journal
San Francisco Chronicle
Supreme Court of the United States