Supreme Court Clarifies Citation of Opinions Rule

The court issued Administrative Order 2021–04–21, which amends the comment to California Rules of Court, Rule 8.1115. In the future, when the court grants review of a published Court of Appeal decision, that decision’s treatment of any issue that is the subject of a split of authority among the Courts of Appeal will retain limited precedential status during review—allowing a superior court to choose to follow the review-granted decision’s approach to the issue. The order also clarifies that when the court grants review of a published Court of Appeal decision, then “vacates” the decision below and transfers the cause back to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration, the Court of Appeal’s decision will be rendered either “depublished” or “not citable,” unless the Supreme Court orders otherwise.