• Panel tosses mother's 25-to-life sentence in infant son's death

    Daily Journal
    October 30, 2026

    (Subscription required) The 1st District Court of Appeal ordered an acquittal on an assault count and a new trial on the remaining charges, finding insufficient aiding-and-abetting evidence and a Section 231.7 jury-selection violation.

  • Meta settles 2nd social media trial

    Daily Journal
    October 30, 2026

    (Subscription required) Meta Platforms Inc. has reached a confidential settlement with an 18-year-old Mississippi plaintiff in the second social media addiction bellwether trial in Los Angeles, leaving Snap Inc. as the sole remaining defendant in the consolidated trial involving two young women.

  • Judge Rejects Federal Government's Demand to Sequester 20,000 Calif. Ballots

    The Recorder
    October 29, 2026

    (Subscription required) A federal judge on Wednesday refused to order California election officials to sequester any ballots cast by some 20,000 individuals the federal government says may be noncitizens. In a 26-page order, U.S. District Judge David Carter of California’s Central District said the Trump administration’s demand violates longstanding constitutional principles giving states the primary authority to conduct elections.

    Related: CalMatters, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, ABC News, Politico

  • Lawsuit Accuses ChatGPT of Designing Fatal Drug Tapering

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    October 29, 2026

    The parents of a woman who was found dead in her Seattle apartment have filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court against the Bay Area-based OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the defendants of engaging in the unauthorized practice of medicine and producing a defective product based on allegations that ChatGPT encouraged their daughter to taper off a life-saving epilepsy medication, causing her demise.

    Related: ABC10