Stories by Deana Carpenter on Northern California Record

PALO ALTO – The family of Joshua Brown is not ruling out suing electric car maker Tesla after Brown died in a May 7 crash while he was using his Model S car’s self-driving mechanism called Autopilot.

SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board is expected to vote next year on whether to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program to 2030.

SACRAMENTO – FedEx Ground Package System Inc. (FedEx), which was alleged to not have suitably handled hazardous materials, has settled its case with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). FedEx will pay $3.4 million in civil penalties as terms of the June 16 settlement.

SAN FRANCISCO – The 4th District Court in California in a recent court case may have created a loophole to get around Proposition 218. Now the state Supreme Court has agreed to review it. 

SAN DIEGO – California’s 4th Appellate Court on June 28 upheld the conviction of a lower court in the case of Kevin Bollaert, a man who ran what was known as a revenge porn website that posted nude photos and information about ex-girlfriends and personal enemies.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the appeal in the case of a man who has been denied United States citizenship based on the residency requirement of his father.

SAN FRANCISCO – Palo Alto-based Theranos is in the midst of a class-action lawsuit after the company revealed in May the results of thousands of its blood tests had to be thrown out because of unreliable results.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must cease allowing the use of compost containing pesticides in organic farming as of Aug. 22, according to a federal court ruling in Northern California.

SAN FRANCISCO – A recent California Supreme Court decision maintained that a 10-to-1 ratio of punitive damages and compensatory damages continues to be the maximum amount settled in bad faith insurance cases.