The diagnosis by doctors at PacifiCare sounded serious and expensive: “malignant neoplasm of the prostate.” Cancer. And that’s the way it was billed to Medicare. However, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General asked the giant health care provider later on for documentation, it got paperwork for suture removal and left shoulder bursitis/tendonitis.   read more

The Center for Biological Diversity called “discussion draft” regulations by the California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources fatally flawed because they “would keep California's fracking shrouded in secrecy and do little to contain the many threats posed by fracking.”   read more

The state Commission on Judicial Performance meted out one of its rare public admonishments this week to Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek G. Johnson for comments he made in a rape case four years ago. Johnson said, "If someone doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage in inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case.”   read more

Hundreds of patients with cerebral palsy, severe autism and mental retardation could be looking for a new home after the state’s Sonoma Developmental Center lost its primary license to operate Tuesday.   read more

Last week, Judge Steven Jahr, administrative director of the courts, set off alarm bells when he wrote in a memo that Governor Jerry Brown was planning to grab $200 million from judiciary reserves a year earlier than the state’s 2012-13 budget indicated. Jahr warned that the cuts would have a “disastrous impact” on court operations and “would further cripple our justice system.”   read more

California lawmakers, bidding a fond adieu to automobile perks axed in April last year by the state’s Citizens Compensation Commission, awarded themselves a few parting gifts, according to a report by Don Thompson at the Associated Press. Numerous legislators rushed to have repairs, paid for by the state, done to state-provided vehicles before giving them up by the first of the year, and then bought the refurbished vehicles back from dealers who had purchased them from the state.   read more

Two judges from the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of California delivered diametrically opposed rulings on California’s newly-passed law banning gay-conversion therapy for underage youths, setting up a showdown in the appellate courts. The law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in October, prohibits mental health providers from using “sexual orientation change efforts” on minors. Those who do are engaging in unprofessional conduct and are subject to discipline by state licensing boards.   read more

California Attorney General Kamala Harris assured local law enforcement officials Tuesday that they would be on firm legal ground if they did not comply with the federal Secure Communities program that encourages cooperation in the deportation of illegal immigrants.   read more

California voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative November 6 to crack down on human trafficking and its related sexploitation of children and adults. The state can start in the Los Angeles County foster care system, home to 59% of the 174 juveniles arrested on prostitution-related charges in 2010, according to county Probation Department statistics.   read more

California has throttled back its war on drugs by taking fewer shots at juveniles. A study released by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) found that marijuana possession arrests decreased 61% after January 2011 when California reduced the penalty from a misdemeanor to an infraction for possession of under one ounce.   read more

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says the November 6 passage of Proposition 36, the three-strikes reduction initiative, could save the state prison system $70-$90 million annually. It also says its numbers could be way off, “depending on several factors,” like how fast the courts re-sentence qualifying inmates. San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen got the ball rolling on Wednesday.   read more

An informant who played a critical role in the arrest of four suspected Southern California terrorist wannabes was paid $250,000 and given certain “immigration benefits” to infiltrate the group. He is the primary source of incriminating statements and actions made by the men since he joined the group in March.   read more

When gasoline prices in California spiked in May and October, the energy industry said it was a supply problem and blamed refinery outages for a shortage of gasoline production. But a study released last week by McCullough Research “contradicts the industry explanations.”   read more

A strategy used by Wal-Mart to pressure cities in the Golden State into sidestepping environmental restrictions and approving their superstores was soundly rejected by a three-judge California appellate panel.   read more

If you are out of work and having problems getting your jobless benefits claim processed by the state, you’re probably not going to get a lot of satisfaction by calling the California unemployment office on the phone. Your chance of reaching a human being on the telephone at the Employment Development Department (EDD) is slim and the state agency ranks near the bottom nationally in processing claims, according to a November report by the California State Auditor.   read more

When the U.S. Air Force couldn’t get permission from California to stash radioactive waste from the McClellan Air Force Base in a local landfill, it didn’t have to look far for an out-of-state solution. It sent the residue from radium-illuminated aircraft instruments to a hazardous waste dump operated by US Ecology in Grand View, Idaho, 70 miles from Boise, according to the publication California Watch.   read more