A Ninth Circuit panel granted a win to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Monday, confirming a lower court’s finding the conversion of water service contracts from the California Central Valley Project doesn’t require a new environmental review. 

The Imperial County District Attorney’s Office has expanded its efforts to recruit and train new prosecutors, welcoming five recent law school graduates into its summer post-bar program while hiring four new paralegals. The post-bar program was established earlier this year as part of the District Attorney’s Office’s efforts to address recruitment and retention challenges faced by prosecutor’s offices in rural areas of California.

The California Supreme Court Monday upheld the death sentence of one of three men convicted of the rape and murder of a woman whose nude body was found on a freeway embankment in Long Beach more than two decades ago. The state’s highest court unanimously rejected an appeal filed on behalf of Kevin Darnell Pearson, finding that there was “significant evidence of his active participation, including his own admissions.”

The nation’s 250th anniversary will come with a civics lesson for some San Mateo County students. San Mateo County Superior Court is inviting local educators to schedule visits that will bring judges, attorneys, and other law enforcement leaders into classrooms across the county as part of a statewide civic education initiative.