Rule 2.1008 in the 2024 California Rules of Court says prospective jurors with physical or mental disabilities that don’t affect their competence but could cause them harm can be excused from jury duty. “Unless the person is aged 70 years or older, the prospective juror may be required to furnish verification or a method of verification of the disability or impairment,” the rule says.

Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a judgment of conviction for criminal threats by a former Livermore mayoral candidate must be reversed where there was no evidence that his suggestion that the judge’s house should be burned down—made on a public Facebook page of an advocacy group that published the judge’s home address—was uttered with the specific intent that the judge would read the comment.

California has conflicting laws and court decisions on what judges should prioritize when setting bail. A case involving a homeless man with a long criminal record could resolve some uncertainty.

The [U.S.] Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear San Francisco’s appeal of a ruling that tightened offshore water pollution standards and said the city was failing to adequately protect swimmers and bathers from discharges of sewage into the Pacific. The ruling, due next year, could limit the authority of federal and state environmental agencies.