Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed into law four bills aimed at curbing a startling rise in DUI fatalities in recent years, including measures that make it easier to charge repeat drunk drivers with a felony and, if they kill someone, with murder. The bills were the last ones standing from an initial package of 17 aimed at addressing traffic deaths.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco had no legal right to seize 650,000 ballots for his investigation into alleged fraud in last November’s election and must obey the orders of Attorney General Rob Bonta, California’s top law officer, to return them to the registrar, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday. Four hours after the ruling, Bianco said, angrily, that he would comply.

(Subscription required) A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld certification of a class that could include roughly 100,000 Californians whose names appear in digitized school yearbooks on Classmates.com, allowing claims that the website improperly used their identities to promote paid subscriptions to move forward. 

(Subscription required) Judge Brad A. Weinreb oversees roughly 25 judges in San Diego Superior Court's North County Division, where shifting trial calendars, staffing shortages and changing law require constant adjustment.