• New law lets prosecutors combine sex crime cases across county lines

    Daily Journal
    July 15, 2026

    (Subscription required) Supporters say the measure will spare victims from repeated testimony, while legislative analysts note potential due process concerns.

  • School-District Immunity Turns on Location of Negligent Act

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    July 15, 2026

    Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a public educational district may be liable for harm occurring off-campus and unrelated to officially sanctioned activities, despite a California law providing immunity for conduct occurring “when [a] pupil is not on school property,” if the plaintiff can point to an on-site negligent act that led to her injuries.

  • Judicial Council weighs budget strategy, technology investments

    Daily Journal
    July 15, 2026

    (Subscription required) The Judicial Council on Friday will consider $3.2 billion in trial court funding, a new budget strategy that drops priority rankings and millions of dollars in technology investments.

  • Key California law on ‘recyclable’ packaging symbols is blocked by federal judge

    Los Angeles Times
    July 15, 2026

    A federal judge has blocked California’s “Truth in Recycling” law, which would restrict the familiar chasing-arrows symbol to packaging that is actually recycled at meaningful rates. Industry groups hail the ruling as a free-speech victory, while environmental advocates warn it undermines efforts to curb misleading marketing. The fight comes amid sobering data: Less than 10% of single-use plastics are recycled in California, even as millions of tons of waste burden landfills, oceans and taxpayer cleanups.

    Related: Courthouse News Service