(Subscription required) Malcolm Vaughn sits in a Solano County jail cell, accused of attempted second degree robbery after he paid $2 for a $2.50 donut, then struggled with the shopkeeper's son and left without the cruller. Also charged with drug possession, he has been locked up since June. He's among the latest clients of Civil Rights Corps, a legal advocacy nonprofit that partners with public defenders' offices around California to file habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people in jail awaiting trial who remain detained solely because they are unable to pay bail.

With little prospect of fending off President Donald Trump’s agenda in Congress or at the ballot box, California has turned, once again, to the courts. With considerable success so far. In lawsuits filed or joined by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, federal judges have blocked the Trump administration’s freeze on virtually all domestic federal funding and mass layoffs in agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education and the AmeriCorps volunteer program.

The Court of Appeal for this district has reversed an order denying a motion to set aside a default judgment on the ground that it is void, but did so without determining whether it actually was, as the defendant contended in the trial court, a nullity.

(Subscription required) Gov. Gavin Newsom's choice to replace Justice Martin J. Jenkins on the state Supreme Court will either strengthen the majority that has resisted challenges to convictions and sentencing or provide support for Justice Goodwin H. Liu and Justice Kelli M. Evans, who have frequently dissented.