The state’s highest court has rejected San Diego’s plea to keep intact the 2022 voter-approved ballot measure that removed the 30-foot height limit from the Midway District. Last week, the justices of the Supreme Court of California formally denied the city of San Diego’s petition for review of the appellate court’s ruling, which found that the city illegally put the ordinance before voters without adequately informing them about the environmental impacts associated with taller builders, as required by California’s Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

Presiding Judge Michael Groch also takes the helm of California’s second-largest trial court system as it continues working through how best to implement Proposition 36, a year-old measure that toughened penalties for petty theft and drug possession for repeat offenders.

Div. Three of the First District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a trial judge erred in finding that California lacks specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum Corporation—a subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company with headquarters in Texas—as to product liability and other claims asserted against it by state and local governments alleging that its fossil fuels have contributed to significant climate harm.

(Subscription required) California will no longer count veterans' service-connected disability compensation as income when determining eligibility for superior court fee waivers under legislation signed into law this year.