• Justices delve into constitutional questions swirling in Kern River case

    SJV Water
    October 7, 2026

    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.

    Related: Bloomberg Law, Courthouse News Service, KGET, ABC23

  • For 2 Latina Chief Judges, Being First Means Making Sure They Aren’t the Last

    The AM Law Litigation Daily
    October 6, 2026

    (Subscription required) Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary Murguia and Chief Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California discuss the importance of community and overcoming mistakes.

  • Court of Appeal Holds Special Session for Alameda High School Students

    California Courts Newsroom
    October 6, 2026

    More than 400 Alameda High School students will attend oral argument of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Five on Oct. 22.

  • Felony-Murder Conviction Stands in Slaying of Off-Duty L.A. Sheriff’s Department Deputy

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    October 6, 2026

    Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has affirmed an order denying a petition for resentencing filed by a man who aided in an attempted robbery during which a co-conspirator fatally shot an off-duty deputy, with the justices rejecting the contention that the decedent did not qualify as a “peace officer”—for purposes of a statutory carve-out to the legislation virtually abolishing the felony-murder rule—because she served in a custodial assignment.