(Subscription required) The state Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit by San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju and several taxpayers arguing that the superior court, by failing to do enough to clear the COVID-19 criminal case backlog, violated its statutory and constitutional obligations.

Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Lee Edmon of this district’s Div. Three will receive the Judicial Council’s 2023 “Distinguished Service Award,” it was announced yesterday. That award will also be conferred on Court of Appeal Justice Marsha Slough of the Fourth District’s Div. Two, and the Aranda Access to Justice Award will be conferred on Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark A. Juhas, the Judicial Council said.

Newsom has previously lambasted judges' decisions for "paralyzing local government's ability to address homelessness." He announced last month an additional $38 million to help clean up encampments throughout the state.

(Subscription required) “Under the law — absent a change of venue motion — the case is supposed to have jurors from the victimized jurisdiction. The defendant is entitled to jurors of his peers,” former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said.