• Employer Can’t Ban Leaving Premises During Breaks

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 6, 2026

    A company that required its employees to remain on the premises during 15-minute breaks ran afoul of a requirement that employers not exercise control over activities engaged in during rest periods, the Third District Court of Appeal declared yesterday, broadening a 2016 holding by the California Supreme Court and, as the appellant sees it, contracting that decision.

  • Defunct Prior-Prison Enhancement Triggers Resentencing Even if Penalty Was Stricken

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 6, 2026

    The California Supreme Court held Thursday that a defendant is entitled to a full resentencing hearing, at which courts are directed to apply any ameliorative changes in the law to reduce a petitioner’s punishment absent a finding that such a sentence would endanger public safety, where his judgment included a now-defunct prior-prison enhancement, even if the penalty associated with the allegation was stricken.

    Related: Supreme Court of California - Opinion

  • Federal Two-Dismissal Rule Does Not Apply in State Court

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 6, 2026

    The California Supreme Court held Thursday that a group of plaintiffs was not precluded from filing a complaint in California against a school district and a former counselor over purported instances of sexual abuse based on having earlier filed and then voluntarily dismissed nearly identical actions in state and federal courts.

    Related: Supreme Court of California - Opinion

  • Yolo County Judge Flags AI-Generated Language in Court Document

    Vanguard News Group
    July 3, 2026

    A routine progress hearing in Yolo County Superior Court took an unexpected turn Thursday when Judge Catherine Hohenwarter questioned what appeared to be artificial intelligence-generated language in a progress report submitted on behalf of an accused, raising concerns about the use of AI in documents filed with the court.