Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinions in Doe v. Marysville Joint Unified School District and People v. Espino. (Briefs here and here; oral argument videos here and here.)
The issues in Doe, as summarized by court staff, are: ““(1) Did the plaintiffs’ second voluntary dismissal of their federal court action preclude a subsequent state court action based on the same claims? (2) Did the defendant’s assertion of sovereign immunity over plaintiffs’ state law claims in federal court divest that court of subject matter jurisdiction over those claims?” The court granted review in April 2024. More about the case here. Horvitz & Levy is Supreme Court counsel for the school district. Justice Lamar W. Baker of the Second District, Division Five, Court of Appeal is the pro tem.
When the court un-held Espino — a former grant-and-hold case — in July 2025, it directed briefing on: “Is a defendant entitled to resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.75 when the judgment in the defendant’s criminal case includes a prior-prison-term enhancement that was imposed but for which punishment was stricken?” (Emphasis added.) More about the case here. Fourth District, Division One, Justice Truc T. Do is the pro tem.
Doe will be the last of three opinions for cases argued in April. Espino will be the first of nine early-May cases to be decided; the other eight opinions should file by August 3.
The Doe and Espino opinions can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.
