Sacramento County Superior Court

Profile: Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye Born: Oct. 19, 1959 Residence: Sacramento Education: C.K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, 1977; Sacramento City College, 1978; UC Davis, bachelor's degree with honors in rhetoric, 1980; UC Davis Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law, law degree, 1984 Career highlights: Assistant legal counsel and then deputy legislative secretary to Gov. George Deukmejian, 1988/89; appointed...

Three men have been sentenced to three years in jail in a scheme that authorities said transported women from Mexico to work as prostitutes in five Northern California cities. The three, who were convicted after pleading no contest to pimping and pandering, were sentenced Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court. The defendants took women, ages 21 to 30, from Mexico to work in brothels in Chico, Stockton, Yuba City, Fairfield and Sacramento, according to state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris.

Three men have been sentenced to three years in jail in a scheme that authorities said transported women from Mexico to work as prostitutes in five Northern California cities. The three, who were convicted after pleading no contest to pimping and pandering, were sentenced Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court. The defendants took women, ages 21 to 30, from Mexico to work in brothels in Chico, Stockton, Yuba City, Fairfield and Sacramento, according to state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that about 450 employees cannot participate in this week's planned walkout at the University of California medical centers. The unions must maintain a minimum level of staffing among certain units, including the burn centers, the intensive care units and the neonatal intensive care units, the judge ruled. If all the respiratory therapists in the burn centers and poison control units were to strike, the court ruled, there would be a "substantial and imminent threat to public health or safety.

Patient care workers at the University of California's medical centers plan to stage a two-day strike next week, but the number taking part will be decided Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court. A judge is expected to rule on a request for a temporary restraining order limiting the number of workers who may take part in the walkout. According to UC officials, the focus is on workers considered essential for patient care. The union representing nearly 13,000 patient healthcare workers has notified UC that it plans to strike from Tuesday at 4 a.m. to Thursday at 4 a.m. Several thousand others could participate in a “sympathy strike” Tuesday.

A lawsuit alleging that approval of the high-speed rail system's first sections in the Central Valley violated state environmental laws was settled Thursday, eliminating a legal obstacle that could have delayed construction. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge approved an agreement that calls for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to further reduce the project's effects on farming operations, preserve agricultural land and provide additional compensation for landowners.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that about 450 employees cannot participate in this week's planned walkout at the University of California medical centers. The unions must maintain a minimum level of staffing among certain units, including the burn centers, the intensive care units and the neonatal intensive care units, the judge ruled. If all the respiratory therapists in the burn centers and poison control units were to strike, the court ruled, there would be a "substantial and imminent threat to public health or safety.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Democratic lawmakers sued state Controller John Chiang on Tuesday, arguing that he misused his power last summer when he docked their pay for passing a budget he said was not balanced. The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, does not seek reimbursement of the $583,200 in withheld pay. Lawmakers want the court to bar the controller from doing it again if they approve a budget that they deem balanced. Chiang, a Democrat, said he was exercising authority given to him by voters when they approved Proposition 25, a constitutional amendment, in 2010.

Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to become California's next chief justice, received the highest rating possible Monday from a state bar evaluations committee. The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Republican, as "exceptionally well qualified" and declared that she has a "brilliant mind" and shows "exceptional objectivity. " "She is an extraordinarily hard worker," the panel said. "She takes her duties very seriously, but also brings a sense of joyful enthusiasm to the performance of them.

Backers of a ballot measure that would require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor acknowledged Friday that the 15-year-old on which "Sarah's Law" is based had a child and was in a common-law marriage before she died of complications from an abortion in 1994.

Patient care workers at the University of California's medical centers plan to stage a two-day strike next week, but the number taking part will be decided Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court. A judge is expected to rule on a request for a temporary restraining order limiting the number of workers who may take part in the walkout. According to UC officials, the focus is on workers considered essential for patient care. The union representing nearly 13,000 patient healthcare workers has notified UC that it plans to strike from Tuesday at 4 a.m. to Thursday at 4 a.m. Several thousand others could participate in a “sympathy strike” Tuesday.

A lawsuit alleging that approval of the high-speed rail system's first sections in the Central Valley violated state environmental laws was settled Thursday, eliminating a legal obstacle that could have delayed construction. A Sacramento County Superior Court judge approved an agreement that calls for the California High-Speed Rail Authority to further reduce the project's effects on farming operations, preserve agricultural land and provide additional compensation for landowners.

Reporting from Sacramento -- Democratic lawmakers sued state Controller John Chiang on Tuesday, arguing that he misused his power last summer when he docked their pay for passing a budget he said was not balanced. The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, does not seek reimbursement of the $583,200 in withheld pay. Lawmakers want the court to bar the controller from doing it again if they approve a budget that they deem balanced. Chiang, a Democrat, said he was exercising authority given to him by voters when they approved Proposition 25, a constitutional amendment, in 2010.

Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to become California's next chief justice, received the highest rating possible Monday from a state bar evaluations committee. The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Republican, as "exceptionally well qualified" and declared that she has a "brilliant mind" and shows "exceptional objectivity. " "She is an extraordinarily hard worker," the panel said. "She takes her duties very seriously, but also brings a sense of joyful enthusiasm to the performance of them.

Profile: Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye Born: Oct. 19, 1959 Residence: Sacramento Education: C.K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, 1977; Sacramento City College, 1978; UC Davis, bachelor's degree with honors in rhetoric, 1980; UC Davis Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law, law degree, 1984 Career highlights: Assistant legal counsel and then deputy legislative secretary to Gov. George Deukmejian, 1988/89; appointed...

Former San Francisco 49er Eason Ramson, sentenced to six years in prison for a string of drug-motivated robberies, says he began using cocaine after entering the NFL, according to documents filed in Sacramento County Superior Court. The sentence was suspended to allow Ramson, 35, to apply for a drug rehabilitation center. If he is not accepted, he will have to serve his sentence in state prison.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge denied a request to freeze new state regulations on how automobile insurance rates are figured. Insurers argued that the regulations by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi were arbitrary and would raise rates for rural and suburban residents of California. The judge gave insurers until Thursday to comply and set new rates that are largely based on motorists' safety records and experience, not where they live. Insurance companies said they would appeal.