(Subscription required) After more than 25 years as a prosecutor, the San Diego County judge discovered that making the decisions from the bench carries a responsibility she could not fully appreciate from the other side of the courtroom. 

A homeless man who intruded upon school grounds at night and stole a pig which was slaughtered and partially consumed could not rely upon a provision providing an exception to the animal cruelty statute by recognizing the “right to kill all animals used for food,” the Sixth District Court of Appeal declared on Thursday.

The Fifth District Court of Appeal has rejected the contention of a student that a school district was not immune from liability in connection with injuries he received when a teacher blocked him when he was attempting to shoot a basket, holding that the defense of primary assumption of the risk applies even though the incident took place during school hours and in the course of a class, rather than in an extracurricular game.

(Subscription required) The California Supreme Court named Judge W. Kearse McGill presiding judge of the State Bar Court and reconstituted its Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics, naming Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner as chair. McGill, who sits on the State Bar Court's Appellate Review Department, will succeed Presiding Judge Richard Honn, who is retiring at the end of October after nearly 25 years on the State Bar Court.