Every day, California’s contractors negotiate written and oral contracts for clients and other third parties. If the state Supreme Court refuses review on a recently published 2nd District Court of Appeals decision, any of those transactions done without an attorney signing off on the terms will be unlawful.

Of course, just because you can seek review of an interim order, doesn’t mean the Supreme Court will grant your petition. 

Now Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a giant expansion of a very different kind of pretrial program. In the coming fiscal year, $140 million would go to county probation departments to supervise defendants before trial. That takes us right back to treating the accused the same as the convicted.

Because of Gabriela Manzo, students from five Salinas high schools are finding their voice and using it to impact change in their community. Manzo, a youth organizer, is one of five outstanding leaders and educators named this year’s Champions of Civics.