A proposed modification to an existing facility qualifies for an exemption to the statutory scheme requiring an administrative evaluation of a project’s environmental impacts if the proposal involves “negligible or no expansion” to the use of the property, regardless of any ecological effects caused by the changes, the California Supreme Court held yesterday.

(Subscription required) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced his appointment of 14 Superior Court judges, including three who were elected in the June 2 primary and will be able to take the bench early, rather than waiting until January. The appointments included one in El Dorado County, four in Los Angeles County, three in San Diego County, two in Orange County, one in Santa Barbara County, two in Santa Clara County and one in Stanislaus County.

On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, justices of the California Supreme Court reflect on the importance of justice and the rule of law as embodied in the United States and California constitutions.

The California Supreme Court held yesterday that a defendant is not entitled to share credit for time spent in custody awaiting resolution of five separate cases across all matters simply because he enters a global plea and is sentenced to concurrent terms at a single sentencing hearing, resolving a split among the courts of appeal as to how to interpret the governing statutory scheme.