(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.

Low-income defendants who are convicted of crimes can’t be assessed fines and fees they can’t afford in order to pay for programs such as electronic monitoring, drug laboratories and court construction, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

A California new law expands CARE Court, a mental health program championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, to include some people diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The law, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, expands who is eligible for CARE Court. Under the original law, only people diagnosed with schizophrenia and other limited psychotic disorders qualified for the program. Now, people who experience psychosis as a result of bipolar disorder can enter the program as well. 

Proposition 36, approved by voters last year, gave prosecutors the ability to charge people convicted of various third-time drug offenses with a so-called treatment-mandated felony – a choice between behavioral health treatment or up to three years in jail or prison. In the law’s first six months, 9,000 people were charged with a treatment-mandated felony and nearly 15% — or 1,290 people — elected treatment.