The state high court decided on May 28 that California Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6—the judicial disqualification process for judges believed to be prejudiced against a party—violates the separation of powers and can be challenged.

A federal appeals court fined two Southern California lawyers $2,500 each and suspended them from practice in the court for six months Wednesday after finding that they used artificial intelligence to cite nonexistent cases to the court and then claimed they hadn’t knowingly done so.

(Subscription required) Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a slate of judicial appointments and nominations Tuesday, naming four Court of Appeal nominees and 11 new Superior Court judges across seven California counties.

The two cases were among four appeals ruled upon by the court this week that focused on the Racial Justice Act, a first-in-the-nation state law that took effect in 2021 and invalidated criminal convictions or sentences in which any participant — lawyers for either side, the judge, jurors or an expert witness — showed racial bias or used discriminatory language, even unintentionally.