In a ceremony held last week, Navraj Singh Rai—known locally as “the Bako kid”, took the oath as Pro Tem Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Kern. The moment etched a new chapter in the county’s legal history, marking the first time a Sikh (and Punjabi Sikh) has ever sat on its bench. 

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a trial judge erred in denying a street vendor’s request for a preliminary injunction in a case seeking to enjoin enforcement of a San Diego ordinance scheme precluding sidewalk sellers from, among other things, operating in the area around the city-owned Petco Park stadium for the hours before and after Padres games and other popular events.

(Subscription required) "At this stage, plaintiffs' allegations that users want compensation and competitors have continually attempted rewards schemes is sufficient to plausibly allege that search engines would compete on price in a but-for world," U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin wrote in an order allowing antitrust class-action claims to proceed against Google in California federal court.

(Subscription required) U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer has accused California of using racial considerations to draw a new map handing Democrats additional safe congressional seats, which was adopted in response to a similar effort by Texas Republicans.