California

California vs. Trump: What it’s like to be the attorneys on the front lines

Published

9 months ago

March 31, 2025

California vs. Trump: What it’s like to be the attorneys on the front lines

Michael Newman, head of the civil rights enforcement section in California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office, was exhausted.

Newman and his legal team had just worked all weekend, straight through that Monday and overnight into Tuesday on a growing pile of legal challenges to the Trump administration, and were overdue for some sleep.

But on his drive home, he was alerted that the administration “cut half the Department of Education’s workforce,” Newman said. “And it’s like, ‘OK, well … That’s not happening.’”

Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Michael Newman, center, along with members of his Civil Rights Enforcement Section on litigation challenging the Trump administration.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The team went back to work, along with others in Bonta’s office, and by Thursday joined with other Democrat-led states to file a new lawsuit to block the firings.

“That’s kind of an idea of what life is like for the litigators,” Newman said. “Just when you think it’s safe to log off from your laptop, you get the text that [says], ‘Did you see this newest order that just came out?’”

For months now, President Trump’s pace of pronouncements, executive orders and dramatic policy shifts has been so swift, their reach so sweeping, that many Trump critics have felt overwhelmed and alarmed. They have also bemoaned the Democratic response as inept, haphazard and ineffective, particularly in Congress.

But since Trump’s January inauguration, attorneys in Bonta’s office — and in the offices of Democratic attorneys general nationwide — have been in an all-out sprint to keep up and push back. They’ve been carefully planning for even longer, including by reviewing litigation from Trump’s first term; listening to Trump’s promises on the campaign trail; assessing lawsuits against the Biden administration by conservative states; and culling through Project 2025, the controversial game plan for the president’s second term.

The result has been a rapid-fire slate of lawsuits challenging Trump’s policies, including his order purporting to end birthright citizenship for the American-born children of immigrants, his attempt to cut off trillions of dollars in federal funding already appropriated by Congress for programs in California and across the country, and his firing of federal probationary employees in veterans programs, national parks and other agencies.

They also have sued to block cuts to National Institutes of Health funding for universities and other research institutions, the termination of K-12 teacher training and preparation grants, billionaire Elon Musk’s informal but prominent role in federal government and access to sensitive data by his Department of Government Efficiency, which is not a real government agency.

In addition to their own lawsuits, Bonta and other Democratic attorneys general have supported challenges to Trump administration attacks on transgender service members, refugees, immigrants, a National Labor Relations Board official, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and law firms that have angered Trump with their legal work.

Trump administration officials have defended all of the policies as fulfilling the president’s promises to voters. They have dismissed California’s legal objections as misguided attempts to interfere with Trump’s presidential authority, and denounced court rulings halting or limiting their policies as the work of liberal “activist” judges.

California sued the first Trump administration about 120 times over four years, often with success. In the first eight weeks of the current administration, Bonta’s office joined other states in filing eight legal actions, a pace that if maintained would lead to more than 100 lawsuits against the new administration in its first two years. And that’s not counting filings in support of other lawsuits, of which there have been at least a half-dozen.

In February, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation authorizing an additional $25 million to finance the state’s court battles with the Trump administration, plus another $25 million to support legal services for immigrants.

Bonta said his office is not working to assert a liberal agenda, but to uphold the Constitution and other federal law — and that it is the Trump administration setting the pace for lawsuits.

“If they decide they’re going to stop breaking the law, then we’ll stop filing lawsuits,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

‘We’re ready, we’re doing this’

After Trump won the election, Newman — a 46-year-old Los Angeles native and Pepperdine Law grad — gathered his team of civil rights attorneys, paralegals and others for a pep talk. There was sadness and some fear in the room, but also confidence, “like, we’re ready, we’re doing this, we’re getting on it,” he said.

“If we’re going to be in this world, in this country, at this time,” he told them, “I think it’s actually very empowering for us to be able to be the tip of the spear in the fight to prevent the worst-case scenarios.”

The team got to work refreshing its arguments from the last Trump administration and zeroing in on new policies it expected Trump to roll out, Newman said.

Still, there was a lot it didn’t know.

Every new policy requires a different legal analysis, not just of its substance and detail but of the administration’s legal justification for it, Newman said. “It’s not just what they do, it’s how they do it,” he said. “And so a lot of that stuff does require fine-tuning at the end.”

The state also needs to be able to clearly articulate how a federal policy it intends to challenge would harm California, a process Newman said Bonta has been particularly and personally engaged in — “making those decisions and determinations himself.”

By Inauguration Day — which fell on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday — attorneys throughout Bonta’s office stood ready to launch. They were all watching Trump’s speeches that day and “in real time sorting out what the priorities were,” Newman said.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, left, and Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Michael Newman

Bonta said Trump’s “blitz of executive orders” was clearly intended to create “shock and awe,” to “flood the zone” and create “confusion and chaos” — enough to overwhelm the administration’s opponents.

But his team was ready, he said.

Their first target was Trump’s order purporting to end birthright citizenship. It was something Trump had telegraphed he would do, and something they — and other blue states — were confident was illegal and could be overturned in court. They sued the very next day, calling the order unconstitutional. Judges quickly agreed, blocking the order from taking effect.

Another early target — the Office of Management and Budget memo purporting to halt trillions of dollars in federal funding — was not something they anticipated, Bonta said, and so they tackled it on the fly.

Bonta learned of the memo, issued a week after Trump’s inauguration, on his way home from an event with law students in San Francisco, and was caught off guard, he said. “That wasn’t necessarily on our bingo card that you might want to, overnight, try to pause $3 trillion in critical essential federal funding,” he said.

Texts and emails began flying between his leadership team and those of other Democratic attorneys general, he said, and they quickly agreed that “we had to file something immediately, the next day,” Bonta said — and “that meant some folks are not getting any sleep.”

That night stands out vividly for Christina Bull Arndt, who as chief counsel for special litigation in Bonta’s office helped coordinate the response among the states.

The night began with emails asking attorneys across the country if they were up for an all-nighter.

Attorneys on the East Coast worked feverishly until about 2 a.m. — 11 p.m. in California — and then handed their work off to their West Coast counterparts, who continued working deep into the morning until the East Coast attorneys woke up, took back over and filed the case that day in federal court in Rhode Island, Arndt said.

Arndt — a 57-year-old UCLA Law grad who grew up in San Diego — said she will never forget sitting in her home office that night “looking at that screen with all these people from across the country saying, ‘OK, who’s doing what? We gotta get this done.’”

It was inspiring, she said.

“This is gonna sound sappy, and I don’t care: I work with a bunch of people who care tremendously about what they’re doing, who really want the best for Californians, who want to do the right thing by the people of this country,” she said. “I am grateful all the time that I get to work with these people — who just want to get after it.”

A federal judge has since blocked the funding freeze, though Bonta’s office is still asking the court to better enforce its order, citing failures by the administration to release Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for wildfire recovery.

A legal war

With Congress firmly in Republican control, resistance to Trump’s many novel and legally dubious actions has fallen almost entirely to those willing to challenge the administration in court — an endeavor more perilous than expected.

Trump and his allies have not only criticized legal rulings against their policies, but called for individual judges to be impeached for issuing such decisions. Those calls, an astonishing affront to the rule of law from a presidential administration, drew a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., but that hasn’t stopped them.

Trump also has gone after law firms that have helped clients challenge him or his agenda in the past, targeting them for punishment unless they fall in line with his demands. And he recently stunned the legal world by issuing a presidential memorandum threatening all law firms with sanctions, revoked security clearances and other punishments if his administration determines that they have improperly sued the federal government.

The administration also has sought to rein in the power of states to sue the federal government, including in arguments to the Supreme Court in the birthright citizenship litigation. Legal experts say such state lawsuits have expanded exponentially under recent administrations of both parties, and that there is legitimate legal disagreement over their validity, particularly in cases where state powers are not at stake.

California’s attorney general is the state’s top law enforcement official, and is charged with defending the civil rights and legal and consumer interests of California residents and serving as legal counsel to state officials and agencies, among other things.

According to legal experts, state attorneys general have always been empowered to sue the federal government, particularly in order to challenge federal statutes or regulations that they believe overreach or undermine state law. Their legal authority to challenge federal policies for other reasons, such as when they harm or infringe on the rights of state residents, is more muddled, the experts said.

Bonta is briefed in the attorney general's Los Angeles office.

Tara Leigh Grove, a University of Texas School of Law professor who has written about state standing in such cases, said state attorneys general have been building out their litigation capabilities for the last 40 years, but have increasingly sued the federal government since a 2007 Supreme Court decision was interpreted within the legal community as bolstering their standing to do so.

Bonta said he is not surprised the Trump administration is challenging the power of states to sue now, given their stack of wins against the administration.

“We’re active, we’re organized, we’re making a difference. We’re stopping their unlawfulness. We’re standing up for the rule of law and the Constitution, and they don’t like it, so they want to reduce our power and influence,” he said.

Newman said the attorneys on his civil rights team are certainly up for the fight. They are “clear-eyed” about the Trump administration’s retaliation efforts — “We know that they’re obsessed with enemies and people who stand in their way,” he said — but undaunted.

That work is “exhausting and frustrating,” he said, but also incredibly rewarding.

“There’s no better feeling in the world,” he said, “than stopping an abuse of power based on the legal principles and strategy that you have developed.”

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California

De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita: live score, updates, highlights from California’s Open Division state championship bowl | Sporting News

Published

14 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita: live score, updates, highlights from California’s Open Division state championship bowl | Sporting News

MISSION VIEJO, California, Dec. 13 — The No. 7/SN No. 15 Santa Margarita [Rancho Santa Margarita, CA] Eagles ended a 14-year state championship drought Saturday night in a 47-13 romp past the No. 15/SN No. 25 De La Salle [Concord, CA] Spartans in California’s CIF Open Division state championship bowl.

While the win ended Santa Margarita’s drought, it prolonged De La Salle’s own dry spell in championship bowl games, extending the Spartan’s losing streak to eight games in these contests.

Santa Margarita is ranked as high as No. 4 in the country by three selectors (High School Football America, MaxPreps, and USA Today’s Super 25). In the High School Football America rankings, they’re ranked ahead of both the No. 1/SN No. 1 Buford [GA] Wolves and the No. 3/SN No. 5 Carrollton [GA] Trojans – two teams that will play for Georgia’s GHSA Class 6A championship on Tuesday night.

Whether the win over De La Salle can get the Eagles – who will finish the season with three losses at 11-3 – a share of the national title remains to be seen.

De La Salle, meanwhile, ends its season at 12-1.

WATCH ON THE NFHS NETWORK: No. 7/SN No. 15 Santa Margarita [Rancho Santa Margarita, CA] Eagles vs. No. 15/SN No. 25 De La Salle [Concord, CA] Spartans

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Refresh for updates

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End of the fourth quarter: Santa Margarita 47, De La Salle 13

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SANTA MARGARITA 47, DE LA SALLE 13

Santa Margarita gets a pick six to put capper on this one.

Siua Holani with finished touches on this one. 43-yard pick 6. Santa Margarita 47, De La Salle 13. 1:36 4Q. pic.twitter.com/VVVEN5bvr6
— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) December 14, 2025

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SANTA MARGARITA 41, DE LA SALLE 13

Johnson finds Gazzaniga for his second touchdown of the game. The tight end entered the game with two touchdown receptions all year, and he’s got two in the state title game.

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End of the third quarter: Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 13

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

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SANTA MARGARITA 35, DE LA SALLE 13

De La Salle forces another turnover and converts it to points to give them a glimmer of hope that they can climb out of this deep hole.

Two forced De La Salle turnovers and two Jaden Jefferson touchdowns.
Jefferson is the state record holder in the 100-meter dash 💨
De La Salle cuts the Santa Margarita lead to 35-13 with 4:09 left in the 3rd pic.twitter.com/05dJ7Q9Mmy
— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) December 14, 2025
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The third quarter is under way, and to make matters worse for De La Salle, Santa Margarita is on offense first.

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End of the second quarter: Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 7

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

Santa Margarita has been a different team offense since Mosley’s return around midseason. And they’re one half away from a state championship in Carson Palmer’s first year at the helm.

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SANTA MARGARITA 35, DE LA SALLE 7

Just over a minute to play in the first half, Mosley scores again on another short play, and then he adds the 2-point conversion. This feels like it’s over.

Trent Mosley finishes off the half with another touchdown. Also adds run for two-point conversion. 1:07 left. Santa Margarita 35, De La Salle 7. Complete domination. pic.twitter.com/hMsSsI0svB
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025
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SANTA MARGARITA 27, DE LA SALLE 7

It’s Duce plus a deuce. Santa Margarita marches right back down the field after the Spartans’ touchdown, and Duce Smith carries it in for another touchdown. And even with the score by De La Salle, Santa Margarita still has its biggest lead of the night after converting the 2-point conversion. It’s Johnson to Ryan Clark on the extra two.

Jaion Smith TD. Two-point conversion good. Santa Margarita 27, De La Salle 7 pic.twitter.com/1zpn1ETZyW
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025
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Santa Margarita into the red zone again.

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SANTA MARGARITA 19, DE LA SALLE 7

Helped along by the turnover and a couple of penalties, De La Salle’s offensive line shows some muscle in the trenches and they power their way down near the goal line where Jaden Jefferson carries it across. That felt like a must-score situation, and they get the touchdown. Now, can they stop Santa Margarita’s offense again?

Jaden Jefferson TD. Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle 7. 6:43 left in second. pic.twitter.com/QzsKMWP58i
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025

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De La Salle gets its first real break. Mosley fumbles, and the Spartans pounce on it inside the Eagles’ 40. If they want to have any chance of staying in this game, they need to make the most of this short field.

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End of the first quarter: Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle 0

The first quarter is in the books, and it’s all Santa Margarita so far.

42 seconds left in first quarter. Santa Margarita 19, De La Salle. Luke Gazzaniga TD. About the only thing the Eagles need to work on are PATs. 1 for 3. pic.twitter.com/WA6IY0blgI
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 14, 2025

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SANTA MARGARITA 19, DE LA SALLE 0

Johnson finds Luke Gazzaniga on a wide-open post against a blown coverage. It’s too easy for the Eagles right now, and with their elite defense, it’s possible they’ve already scored enough to win this game.

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De La Salle with a quick three-and-out on offense, and they punt on a 4th-and-19. Mosley returns it inside De La Salle’s 35. This is already starting to look ugly.

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SANTA MARGARITA 13, DE LA SALLE 0

Trace Johnson finds Mosley with a short swing pass to the right side of the field, and the senior standout does his thing winding and weaving his way 34 yards through traffic before running over the final defender at the goal line. Again, the early feeling watching this is not good for De La Salle.

What a luxury.
Just get it to Trent Mosley and watch.
Santa Margarita 13, De La Salle 0 (missed PAT)pic.twitter.com/3cp3hBbUJ5
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) December 14, 2025
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Santa Margaria quickly approaching the red zone again.

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De La Salle puts together a good drive to get into position for a short field goal attempt. But it’s blocked by Santa Margarita, ending the scoring threat. If you’re a De La Salle fan, you’re encouraged by the offense being able to move against the Eagles. But combined with the defensive personal fouls on Santa Margarita’s first drive, you also get the feeling early that this could be a really tough night for the Spartans. It’s early, we’ll see how they rebound from the lost scoring opportunity.

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SANTA MARGARITA 7, DE LA SALLE 0

Helped along by a couple of personal foul penalties, Santa Margarita drives quickly on its first possession, scoring on a short run by Trent Mosley out of the Wildcat formation.

Tulane bound Trace Johnson and Griffin Brahm connect get in the red zone.
4⭐️ USC bound Trent Mosley then scores. He’s a freakish talent.
Santa Margarita up 7-0 on De La Salle with 8:00 left in the 1st pic.twitter.com/vpo2yvYp9R
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— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) December 14, 2025

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Santa Margarita won the toss and deferred to the second half. De La Salle picks up one first down against this stout Eagles’ defense before being forced to punt.

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They’re under way in California! This is the final game of California’s high school football season.

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Coming soon!

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De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita start time

Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Start time: 11 p.m. EST (8 p.m. PST local)

The game between De La Salle and Santa Margarita is being played at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.

How can I watch De La Salle vs. Santa Margarita today?

MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF HEADLINES

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California

Two girls, 9 and 11, awarded $31.5m after sister’s California torture death

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Two girls, 9 and 11, awarded .5m after sister’s California torture death

A lawsuit over the death of an 11-year-old California girl who was allegedly tortured and starved by her adoptive family reached a settlement on Friday totaling $31.5m from the city and county of San Diego as well as other groups.

The suit was brought on behalf of the two younger sisters of Arabella McCormack, who died in August 2022. The girls were ages six and seven at the time. Their adoptive mother, Leticia McCormack, and McCormack’s parents, Adella and Stanley Tom, are facing charges of murder, conspiracy, child abuse and torture. They pleaded not guilty to all charges, and their criminal case is ongoing.

Arabella McCormack. Photograph: San Diego county sheriff’s office

The lawsuit alleged a systemic failure across the city and several agencies and organizations to not report Arabella McCormack’s abuse.

The settlement includes $10m from the city of San Diego, $10m from San Diego county, $8.5m from the Pacific Coast Academy and $3m from the Rock church, the sisters’ attorney, Craig McClellan, said. The school oversaw Arabella McCormack’s home schooling, and her adoptive mother was an ordained elder at the church.

“The amount is going to be enough to take care of the girls for the rest of the lives,” McClellan said. But it “isn’t going to be enough and never could be enough … to replace their sister, nor is it going to erase the memories of what they went through”.

The lawsuit said county social workers did not properly investigate abuse claims and two teachers at the Pacific Coast Academy failed to report the girl’s condition. It also said a San Diego police officer, a friend of the girl’s adoptive mother, gave the family a wooden paddle that they could use to hit their children.

San Diego sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of a child in distress at the McCormack home 30 August 2022. They found Arabella McCormack severely malnourished with bruises, authorities said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

Her sisters are now nine and 11 and living with a foster mother. They are in good health and “doing pretty well considering all things”, McClellan said.

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California

California High School Wrestlers To Watch – FloWrestling

Published

2 days ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

California High School Wrestlers To Watch – FloWrestling

California consistently produces an incredible amount of high school wrestling talent. The current crop of high schoolers from The Golden State has piled up a massive collection of accolades and has major next-level potential. Here’s a look at some of the top wrestlers to watch this year in California.

Michael Bernabe (Fresno) — Freshman, 106 pounds

Bernabe is one of the top freshmen in the country and is currently ranked second nationally at 106 pounds. Bernabe had a productive offseason, placing sixth in Fargo and third at the Super 32. He will be looking to run the table and win a California state title as a freshman, but it will not come easily. He will likely have #3 Luke Loren and #5 Thales Silva, both of whom are also incredible freshmen who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at Super 32, as well as #4 Eli Mendoza.

Rocklin Zinkin (Buchanan) — Senior, 120 pounds

Zinkin is one of the nation’s fastest-rising prospects. The two-time California state finalist won his first state championship last season at 113 pounds and followed that up with an eye-popping summer, finishing third at U17 World Team Trials, winning Fargo in the Junior division and looking incredible at Super 32 on his way to the 120-pound belt. Those showings propelled Zinkin from #100 on the 2026 Big Board up to #11. The Oklahoma State commit is currently ranked #2 in the country at 120 pounds and could have a showdown with two-time U17 World Champion Sammy Sanchez this season in his quest to close his career with a second state title.

Watch Zinkin dominate in the Super 32 finals

Samuel Sanchez (Esperanza) — Sophomore, 120 pounds

The #1 prospect in the Class of 2028 Big Board is the truth. After winning the U17 World Championships in 2024, Sanchez won a state title as a freshman last season at 106 pounds and then one-upped himself by going back-to-back with his second U17 World title at 51 kg this summer in Athens, helping lead Team USA to the team championship. Sanchez is so much fun to watch, and if we were to get a matchup between him and Zinkin, it could be one of the nation’s most anticipated high school matches of the season.

Watch Sanchez win his second U17 World Championship

Moses Mendoza (Gilroy) — Senior, 132 pounds

Mendoza is another Californian who has made big jumps heading into his senior campaign. The returning state champion for Daniel Cormier’s Gilroy High School team placed third at the state tournament in 2024. He has a lengthy list of freestyle accolades. The Michigan recruit defeated his former high school teammate, Isaiah Cortez, for the Fargo Junior freestyle title at 132 pounds this summer and won Super 32 in October. The nation’s second-ranked 132-pounder could have a big test in front of him for his second state title in #3 Ashton Besmer.

Watch Mendoza win his Super 32 belt

Ashton Besmer (Buchanan) — Senior, 132 pounds

Besmer put together an incredible run to make the U17 World Team at 60 kilograms, punctuated by a sweep of U17 World champion Paul Kenny in the best-of-three championship series. Besmer also notched wins against Moses Mendoza and Manuel Saldate on his way to a Doc B title last season before finishing third at the state tournament. The Army West Point commit has worked his way up to #3 in the national rankings at 132 pounds and could be looking at a rubber match with Mendoza this season. Last year in the Doc B semifinals, Besmer defeated Mendoza 22-15 in a crazy match, but just two weeks later Mendoza got his revenge in the Five Counties finals with a 16-1 tech fall in two periods.

Watch Besmer defeat Saldate for the 2025 Doc B title

Joseph Toscano (Buchanan) — Senior, 144 pounds

The third and final Buchanan wrestler on this list, Toscano is a three-time California state runner-up, He won a Doc B title as a freshman back in 2023, followed by two runner-up finishes, and has also been fourth at Super 32 the last two years. The Cornell commit is looking to get over the final hurdle on his way to a state championship, but it won’t be easy. Along the way, Toscano could match up with the likes of #7 Ivan Arias and #17 Arseni Kikiniou.

Arseni Kikiniou (Poway) — Junior, 144 pounds

Arseni Kikiniou is an interesting prospect and a guy to watch this season. Kikiniou’s father was a Greco-Roman World bronze medalist and Olympian for Belarus before their family moved to the United States, and his influence is evident in Arseni’s wrestling. Arseni claimed a bronze medal in Greco and a silver in freestyle at the U17 World Championships this summer. Arseni has placed second and fifth, respectively, in his first two state tournament appearances. He recently made his commitment to Cornell and will be making a big jump up in weight this season to 144 pounds. It’ll be intriguing to see if his international success translates to even more folkstyle success this season, especially with a possible showdown with future Cornell teammate Toscano on the horizon.

Watch Kikiniou win his U17 Greco-Roman World bronze medal

Mason Ontiveros (Pitman) — Senior, 175 pounds

Ontiveros has had an impressive 2025, finishing second at the state tournament, taking third at NHSCAs, and placing second in Fargo in the Junior division at 175 pounds. This has vaulted Ontiveros up to #6 in the country at the weight. Ontiveros is an Oklahoma recruit who will be looking to close out his career with a state title in what could be an interesting weight class in California. As it currently stands, we could see #7 Mario Carini, #9 Travis Grace, #12 Isai Fernandez and #14 Slava Shahbazyana, along with Ontiveros, all battling it out for the 175-pound California state championship this season.

Watch Ontivero’s win in the 2025 Fargo Junior semifinals

Coby Merrill (JW North) — Senior, 285 pounds

Coby Merrill is one of the most physical wrestlers in the country at any weight class. After state runner-up finishes as a freshman and sophomore, Merrill dominated the 285-pound field last season, finishing 48-0 with 44 falls. Merrill finished sixth at the U20 World Team Trials this summer and finished second in Fargo. The second-ranked heavyweight in the country is a heavy favorite to win his second state title this season.

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