A public defender’s office cannot be compelled to represent an indigent inmate in pursuing a habeas corpus petition, Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday, issuing a writ of mandate directing that an order compelling legal services be vacated.

The first year of President Donald Trump’s second term has been a productive one for local government legal agencies like the San Francisco city attorney’s office, which has scored first-round successes against Trump’s attempts to cut off billions in funding to cities that promote minorities and refuse to round up undocumented immigrants. Federal judges in those cases have accused the administration of ignoring or defying the law.

(Subscription required) A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is weighing new arguments in a long-running case aimed at challenging the constitutionality and enforceability of a California children's online privacy law, the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act.

In a 55-page notice, the commission accused Draper of seven counts of misconduct, with some of the charges stemming from sexist and racist comments he allegedly made to litigants and court colleagues.