(Subscription required) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday named six new judges to fill vacancies in six trial courts around the state. The governor’s picks continue a common practice during his tenure of choosing court commissioners for elevation to judgeships.

Adult plaintiffs in an action for defamation based on allegations of sexual misconduct were wrongly granted permission by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to proceed pseudonymously, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, declaring that “[t]he public has a fundamental interest in knowing the identities of parties to litigation in public fora.”

Div. Three of the First District Court of Appeal held Friday that a judge erred in taking into consideration unpaid restitution owed by a defendant, who pled no contest to driving under the influence relating to a 2020 injury collision, in denying the convict’s requests for expungement and to have her charge reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a San Diego attorney’s complaint asserting a claim for slander relating to an immigration judge allegedly saying in front of court staff that she would “take [his] license to practice law”—a statement he characterizes as a false accusation of unethical behavior—was properly dismissed as barred by sovereign immunity.