San Bernardino County, California

A federal jury awarded $51.8 million to the mother of Antonio Garza Jr., a mentally ill man killed by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies in 2023, in what attorneys call the largest police-shooting verdict in California history. Deputies Nicholas Kridner and Bill Abernathy fired on Garza after a 35-minute chase from Yucca Valley into Palm Springs; an autopsy showed he was shot 14 times, including after he had fallen. Jurors found the department liable for excessive force, civil rights violations and wrongful death. Testimony detailed the family's failed efforts to secure mental health care and a conservatorship for Garza before the shooting, and the county has not yet commented.

A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge rejected Chino Valley Unified School District's bid to dissolve an injunction blocking its policy requiring staff to notify parents when students identify as transgender or request different names or pronouns. Judge Michael Sachs upheld his earlier ruling against the 2023 policy, which he had previously called "discriminatory on its face."

The district argued the U.S. Supreme Court's emergency ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta affirmed parents' right to be informed about their children, but Sachs distinguished the cases, noting Mirabelli involved staff being told to withhold information when parents directly asked, whereas Chino Valley's policy compelled proactive disclosure. Sachs said parents retain the right to inquire directly with the district, triggering a response obligation, but staff cannot be forced to voluntarily disclose gender-identity information. Board President Sonja Shaw criticized the ruling and said the district would continue notifying parents; the ACLU said the decision correctly upholds California law limiting mandatory disclosure policies. The district said it was too early to decide on an appeal.