Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal yesterday highlighted the limited role of appellate courts in reviewing a trial judge’s denial of mental health diversion to a defendant seeking to avoid criminal sanctions by seeking treatment for a diagnosed disorder that he says was a “significant factor” in his commission of the charged offense.

A state appeals court has once again yanked mental health diversion away from Job Uriah Taylor, the Santa Monica man accused of launching a burst of racially motivated attacks in March 2023, sending his case back on track toward a potential life sentence.

Eighteen California youths appealed a court’s dismissal of their climate discrimination lawsuit against the EPA. They argue the agency violates their constitutional rights by treating future climate harms as less important than present economic concerns.

(Subscription required) A former Orange County man who threatened to kill the trial court judge who oversaw his family law case was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Thursday.