The poll found that 1 in 3 U.S. adults live in households that had been involved in a court case at some point, meaning that either the survey respondent or someone living with them had had a civil or criminal case before a state or local court, by either initiating or defending a case. Many respondents said that this court experience had taken a toll on their mental and financial well-being.

Div. Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal on Friday granted a petition for writ of mandate reinstituting criminal proceedings after a trial judge dismissed the case due to the deputy district attorney not being in court at 8:35 a.m., when the matter was called, saying the jurist abused his discretion by failing to weigh the constitutional rights of the defendant against the interests of society as represented by the prosecutorial office.

In In re Ja.O., the Supreme Court today addresses under what circumstances California statutes complementing the federal Indian Child Welfare Act require a county welfare department to inquire of extended family members whether a child placed in temporary custody is or might be an Indian child. The inquiry is important to promote ICWA’s goal of “ ‘[M]inimizing separation of Indian families and maximizing early placement of Indian children with extended family, other members of the child’s Indian tribe, or other Indian families.’ ”

This month, the California Judicial Council, which oversees the largest court system in the country, approved groundbreaking rules regulating generative AI use by judges, clerks and court staff. By September 1, every courthouse from San Diego to Siskiyou must follow policies that require human oversight, protect confidentiality and guard against AI bias.