NewsLinks

  • Supreme Court adds water, attempted manslaughter cases to its docket

    At the Lectern
    July 17, 2025
    At its conference yesterday, the Supreme Court took a number of notable actions, including Pandemic health violation fine review denial, Murder resentencing denial dissenting votes, River flow reduction, and more.

  • ‘Bring Back The Kern’ lawsuit heads to California Supreme Court

    KGET
    July 18, 2025

    The California Supreme Court announced Wednesday it will grant a review of the 5th District Court of Appeals decision that overturned a Kern County judge’s previous ruling that said water needs to be kept in the Kern River at fish-friendly levels.

    Related: Center for Biological Diversity, Maven’s Notebook

  • Dissenting statement in murder resentencing denial case

    At the Lectern
    July 17, 2025
    It’s another Senate Bill 1437 case. The much-litigated 2018 legislation narrowed two types of murder liability and allowed for resentencing of defendants convicted under the earlier, now-invalidated, harsher laws.

  • CA courts still jammed

    CalMatters
    July 18, 2025

    California’s court reporter shortage has gotten so bad that thousands of people, including alleged domestic violence victims, no longer have a written record of their civil cases, making it harder for them to exercise their constitutional right to appeal.

  • Judicial Profile: Los Angeles County Judge Jon R. Takasugi

    Daily Journal
    July 18, 2025

    (Subscription required) Though he once expected to finish his career in criminal law, Judge Jon Takasugi now finds civil cases intellectually invigorating and lets attorneys try their cases without interruption.

  • Yolo County nonprofit teaches youth, farmers to tackle climate change in community

    Sacramento Bee
    July 18, 2025

    The grant programming was developed with input from nearly 1,500 community members. Kristen Wraithwall, sustainability manager, explained climate change has begun affecting the area, posing drought, flood and increased wildfire risks that affect rural communities unequally. While the county doesn’t yet have a funding source to make the payments ongoing, it hopes the grants will deliver measurable climate benefits.

  • 5 Things To Know As California Courts Decide On AI Rule

    Law360
    July 17, 2025

    (Subscription required) Fourteen months after California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero first convened a task force to study potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence in the court system, the Judicial Council of California is poised Friday to consider the proposed rules and standards the task force developed.

  • Judicial Profile: Sonoma County Judge Kinna Patel Crocker

    Daily Journal
    July 17, 2025

    (Subscription required) Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Kinna Patel Crocker, whose first courtroom experience came at her own citizenship ceremony as a teen, now presides with a settlement-first philosophy shaped by her family law background.