The world’s biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening statements for the first, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, begin this week.

Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge in a criminal proceeding erred in quashing a defense subpoena relating to the victim of an alleged kidnapping, who was purportedly taken by her fiancé from a conservator’s facility after being diagnosed with schizophrenia, based on a finding that a probate court order declaring her to be “gravely disabled” was dispositive of her incompetence to testify.

A federal judge on Monday blocked a California law from going into effect that would ban federal immigration agents from covering their faces, but they will still be required to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number.

A landmark civil trial that will ask jurors to decide whether social media companies can be held liable for pushing a product that they allegedly knew was harmful to children began Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, with attorneys sparring for more than four hours in combative opening arguments.