The majority ruled the court should not have accepted the case, which revolved around how to assess multiple IQ scores that fall above and below the cutoff allowing execution. The case was significant because many capital punishment defendants fall into this borderline territory in the 27 states that have the death penalty.

(Subscription required) The Commission on Judicial Performance on Tuesday publicly admonished Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason for comments to two prospective jurors that the commission said were rude, discourteous and created the appearance of bias or prejudice.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday rejected the proposition that doctors at a veteran’s hospital should be subjected to a heightened standard of care in light of ex-soldiers being at a higher risk of committing suicide than the general populace, affirming a defense judgment in a wrongful death case brought by the parents of a man who served in the Army, experienced post traumatic stress disorder, and killed himself.

More than a dozen “friend of the court” briefs have been filed with the state Supreme Court debating whether a local judge erred when he ordered that enough water be kept in the mostly dry Kern River bed through Bakersfield for fish.