(Subscription required) A handful of states so far have successfully passed laws addressing transparency disclosures on employers’ use of artificial intelligence, and a subset of those also call for human oversight. The measures are intended to help prevent algorithmic discrimination and ensure data privacy protections. California’s legislative session gave the human-in-the-loop concept a significant boost, with an upfront mandate for human input.

This piece of the ongoing Kern River lawsuit involves a preliminary injunction issued by Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp in 2023. He ordered Bakersfield, which operates diversion weirs in the riverbed, to keep some water in the river for fish. That injunction was overturned by the 5th District Court of Appeal, which said Pulskamp should have determined how much water was needed for fish first and then balanced that need against existing water uses.

(Subscription required) A new pilot gives some parents a second round of counseling -- and allows counselors to recommend parenting plans to judges -- drawing both interest and concern from family law attorneys.

(Subscription required) California Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant to extend a resentencing law to attempted manslaughter, despite arguments that excluding the crime produces an irrational result by denying relief available to defendants convicted of more serious offenses.