Students in the California State University system have been burdened with tuition hikes year after year recently, and one CSU Los Angeles grad student tried to take legal action to seek an injunction against the most recent fee increase. more ›

There are few more delightful offers than one that involves you getting to eat a whole bunch of pie. After getting a behind the scenes look at the 1st and 2nd Annual KCRW "Good Food" Pie Contests, it took about four seconds for me to say "yes" when I was asked to be a judge this year. more ›

A mixed martial arts fighter who appeared as Dr. Evil's handyman in the hit comedy "Austin Powers" has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1990 Christmas Eve gang rape of a 20-year-old Orange County woman. more ›

Pie lovers, your day is coming: Sunday, September 18th is the 3rd Annual KCRW "Good Food" Pie Contest, and this year the event will take place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Home cooks and pros will be submitting their entries in five categories for tasting and judging by a panel of local chefs and food writers (yours truly humbly included). more ›

L.A.'s Best Bartender and Top Chef Just Desserts Judge Johnny Iuzzini talks about what makes a great cocktail experience, where he eats in Los Angeles, and season 2 of TV's 'Top' sweets competition. more ›

Court papers filed this week by attorneys for the Los Angeles Dodgers and team owner Frank McCourt indicate the baseball franchise is looking to have a request for punitive damages dismissed in the lawsuit filed by the family of beaten Giants fan Bryan Stow. more ›

Two furtive office tug-off sessions have wound up not only costing a Fullterton man some jail time, but now Michael Kevin Lallana, the 32-year-old convicted of secretly spurting his semen in a co-worker's water bottle, has been ordered to pay over $27,000 in restitution for his crime, according to the OC Register. more ›

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor rejected the prosecution's request to show the jury sixteen hours of unseen footage of Michael Jackson's final rehearsals for a series of comeback concerts, according to CBS LA. more ›

It should come as absolutely no surprise that Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, the Nigerian man who flew from New York to Los Angeles last week on a stolen boarding pass with only a college ID, has been denied bail and is considered a flight risk. more ›

The ongoing courtroom battle to settle the legality of California's ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, has crossed another hurdle today, as a federal judge has ruled to uphold the decision made previously by Judge Vaughn Walker that the proposition is unconstitutional. more ›

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich sought an injunction against the tagging crew known as the "Metro Transit Assassins" in 2010, and today his offices have announced that a judge has "has rejected a challenge" to the injunction. more ›

Seven Lake Forest medical marijuana shops have been ordered to close with a temporary injunction issued by an Orange County judge. The businesses, located in a building on the 24600 block of Raymond Way near the Montessori Children’s School House, allegedly violates a new state law banning pot shops within 600 feet of a school, reports CBS Local. more ›

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, the man who ruled that California's controversial same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, has publicly confirmed long-running rumors he himself is gay. In yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, the now-retired judge says he never considered stepping aside from the Proposition 8 case because he believes his sexual orientation was irrelevant to his decision-making. more ›

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Harvey Giss thinks "[p]eople don't have a sense of humor anymore," when it comes to kidding around about the Ku Klux Klan, according to the LA Times. Details of an off-the-record discussion between Giss and attorneys from July 2010 are surfacing, and yesterday the judge "was publicly admonished" by the state's Commission on Judicial Performance (CJP). more ›

Now in its "2nd 8th Annual" (aka 9th) year, the ooey, gooey, cheesy good fun that is the Grilled Cheese Invitational is happening on April 23rd, and tickets went on sale today at $12 a pop. "The event has expanded include more space, more vendors, more free samples, more entertainment and what is expected to be a combined grand total of over 30,000 grilled cheese sandwiches available for your eating pleasure," boasts organizers. more ›

While the ultimate fate and legitimacy of California's Propositon 8 remains to be decided, today Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has asked he Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to dismiss its order prohibiting same-sex marriages until the appeal case is resolved. more ›

Will she be made to serve jail time? Is a plea deal on the table? Will she be wearing another tight, white outfit? Ah, Lindsay Lohan. Once again, the actress is the reason for media hysteria today, as she faces the judge today in the case of the stolen necklace. more ›

Remember Imperial Stars? You know, the jerks whose "save the children" stunt shut down the 101 Freeway in Hollywood for hours in mid-October? Today the OC hip-hop rockers were in court: "Christopher Roy Wright, 32, David Paul Hale, 30, and Keith R. Yackey, 32, are charged with one felony count of conspiracy, two misdemeanor counts of resisting, obstructing or delaying Los Angeles police and California Highway Patrol officers, and one misdemeanor count each of creating a public nuisance and false imprisonment," says the Daily News. more ›

The colorful self-organized cast of characters who spend their days interacting with passersby in front of tourist hot spots on Hollywood Boulevard have a U.S. District Judge on their side, according to KTLA. more ›

Actress Lindsay Lohan got out of her chauffered vehicle outside the Beverly Hills Courthouse at 8:38 this morning, already late and with security still to go through before she arrived inside Judge Marsha Revel's courtroom. more ›

Today, Governor Schwarzenegger is appointing judges around the state, filling vacated spots. Of the eleven announced today for Los Angeles County, eight are Democrats, two are Republicans and one is decline to state. Each are paid a salary of $178,789, which does not include the benefits they get from the county, as alleged by Richard Fine. Because judges are rarely reported on, LAist has made this gallery of photos with biographies provided by the Governor's Office. more ›

Director Roman Polanski remains under house arrest in a Swiss town, having already pledged to fight his extradition to the United States to face sentencing in a 32-year-old case. Today, however, lawyers are scheduled to meet here in Los Angeles to continue discussing what "future legal moves that could resolve the marathon prosecution," according to the Daily News. This type of meeting is called a "status conference" and will be heard by Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza. more ›

Los Angeles Attorney Dolly Gee today became the first Chinese-American woman in U.S. history to serve as a federal district court judge when the Senate confirmed as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Central District of California. “Dolly Gee has an exemplary record and she will be an outstanding addition to the federal bench," said Senator Barbara Boxer, who recommended to President Barack Obama that Gee be nominated. "As a daughter of immigrants from rural China, she personifies the American dream. She used her position as a prominent attorney in Los Angeles to promote racial tolerance..." more ›

Director Roman Polanski is now confined to a chalet in a Swiss resort town, having posted the $4.5 million bail to release him from prison, but the next steps in his criminal case remain undetermined. Yesterday in Los Angeles the wish to have the original charges against him of sexual misconduct dropped was discussed in court, as the lawyer representing his victim, Samantha Geimer, presented arguments in favor of dropping the 32-year-old case, according to an AP report published on CBS2.com. more ›

A superior court judge today told Los Angeles city officials in a preliminary injunction that they were the ones breaking the law, not a medical marijuana dispensary that was told it could not operate under a 2007 moratorium--since extended twice--banning new medical marijuana facilities. more ›

Nearly two months into a ban on new digital billboards and supergraphics, a judge sided with the city of Los Angeles after one advertising company challenged the law. Liberty Media said exceptions had been granted in the past and that City Council had violated state law dictating open meetings. U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins said "none of theese claims have merit" in her tentative decision. more ›

Oh, this is good. FOX has landed a deal with talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres to become the newest American Idol judge, replacing Paula Abdul who quit the reality show this summer over salary issues. “I’m thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol,” said DeGeneres in Fox's news release, via The Wrap. ”I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote.” Har, har, Ellen, har... har. more ›

Several Los Angeles County Superior Court employees get to take today off without pay as part of a furlough plan that begins this week and is slated to run for the next year as part of a cost-cutting measure, according to abc7.com. The third Wednesday of the month will now find dozens of courtrooms in the system at a standstill, with the hopes of staving off "permanent court closures and layoffs." more ›

The County tried to regulate the time a taco trucks could operate in one place and lost. On Friday, a similar, but lesser known Los Angeles city ordinance from 2006 was struck down by a judge. Last December, a taco truck owner received a $150 parking ticket from the city's Department of Transportation for violating the law. He and a group of attorneys and students from UCLA Law School's clinical program challenged the ticket in an administrative hearing, but lost. They appealed to LA County Superior Court and won with no city attorneys present at the hearing. more ›

At a hearing yesterday, U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins found the city in contempt for enforcing a supergraphic moratorium on World Wide Rush, the one company allowed to hang supergraphics in specific locations under an injunction. "Collins chastised the city for refusing to allow World Wide Rush to even apply for permits and then citing the company for not having them, specifically referring to two locations, one in Westwood and the other near the Miracle Mile," the LA Times reported. more ›