Div. Four of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge erred in ordering a defendant to attend, as a condition of his release, an inpatient drug treatment program if his probation officer later so recommended, saying that the jurist’s attempt to expressly pre-approve the agency’s subsequent determination does not avoid the problem that the action represents an improper delegation of judicial authority.

(Subscription required) A federal judge again denied the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's request to block California's new climate disclosure laws, finding no new arguments and rejecting its First Amendment claims.

Div. Three of the Court of Appeal for this district yesterday imposed a $10,000 sanction on a lawyer for use of fabricated legal authority in his briefs, resulting from reliance on artificial intelligence, and issued a warning to the bar to avoid similar misconduct.

A serial killer who was convicted of eight murders in the course of robberies and given eight death sentences is ineligible for resentencing under Penal Code §1172.75 because his appeal is pending before the California Supreme Court, Div. Four of the Court of Appeal for this district has determined.