(Subscription required) With 70% of family court litigants unrepresented, better tools -- like help centers, emergency screenings, and a public-defender-style custody advisor--are essential to protect children and restore trust in the system.

Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal held yesterday that the standard announced in the 2023 California Supreme Court case of People v. Reyes for implied malice murder—requiring that the prosecution prove that the defendant’s actions carried with them a high probability of death—has no application to the “conscious disregard for human life” required for voluntary manslaughter charges.

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal—faced with the question of whether “necessity” is a defense to a charge of escape from custody by a felon when the motivating circumstance is to save a third party from harm—yesterday answered that it might be, but a definitive answer would have to await a case with a stronger need to provide protection than presented by the appellant.

DOJ’s forceful counterpunch comes after Trump signed a presidential memorandum in March instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi “to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States,” including immigration lawyers.