(Subscription required) Before she took the bench, Superior Court Judge Rebecca G. Church was already preserving legal history--resurrecting the forgotten legacy of San Diego's first woman assistant U.S. attorney. Now, from her courtroom in downtown San Diego, Church draws on that sense of duty and perspective to navigate the emotionally charged terrain of family law, where the stakes are personal and the path to justice is rarely simple.

(Subscription required) A new legislative report shows retail theft has increased modestly in recent years, especially in large urban counties--though rates remain far below their 1990s peak.

(Subscription required) Former Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, convicted of fatally shooting his wife, will wait until September to be sentenced after his attorneys requested more time to file motions, including a bid for a new trial.

(Subscription required) The case could settle a longstanding conflict among appellate courts over how Penal Code Section 1381 applies when a defendant has not yet been physically transferred to a state prison.