On April 6, 2006, in a case arising from a game involving community college baseball teams, the Supreme Court of California ruled that baseball players in California assume the risk of being hit by baseballs even if the balls were intentionally thrown so as to cause injury.

( Most notably, in the case Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal. 3d 804 ( 1975 ), the California Supreme Court adopted the principle of comparative negligence in the face of a California Civil Code provision codifying the traditional common-law doctrine of contributory negligence.

It took legal actions to force them to do so: in 1864 the Supreme Court of the State of California ordered them under Writs of Mandamus ( The People of the State of California ex rel the Central Pacific Railroad Company vs. Henry P. Coon, Mayor ; Henry M. Hale, Auditor ; and Joseph S. Paxson, Treasurer, of the City and County of San Francisco.

In October 1985, the California Supreme Court rejected Rosenthal's appeal of the multimillion-dollar judgment against him for legal malpractice, and upheld conclusions of a trial court and a Court of Appeal that Rosenthal acted improperly.

The Supreme Court of California, in affirming the disbarment, held that Rosenthal engaged in transactions involving undisclosed conflicts of interest, took positions adverse to his former clients, overstated expenses, double-billed for legal fees, failed to return client files, failed to provide access to records, failed to give adequate legal advice, failed to provide clients with an opportunity to obtain independent counsel, filed fraudulent claims, gave false testimony, engaged in conduct designed to harass his clients, delayed court proceedings, obstructed justice and abused legal process.

* 1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal. 3d 628 invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.

* 1973 – In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test for obscenity in U. S. law.

When interviewed about it, he stated, “ I certainly believe that people who are in pain should be helped and assisted in every way possible, that the drugs should be used to mitigate their pain but I believe the law of the United States of America which requires that drugs not be used except for legitimate health purposes .” " Attorney General Ashcroft Asks Supreme Court To Ban Assisted Suicide – California Healthline.

* 2008 – California becomes the second U. S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.

The year after Greenman, the Supreme Court of California proceeded to extend strict liability to all parties involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of defective products ( including retailers ) and in 1969 made it clear that such defendants were liable not only to direct customers and users, but also to any innocent bystanders randomly injured by defective products.

Although the Greenman rule was transmitted to most other states via Section 402A of the Restatement of Torts, Second ( published in 1964 after Greenman ), the Supreme Court of California refused to adopt Section 402A's " unreasonably dangerous " limitation upon strict liability in 1972.

Although the Supreme Court of California has since become more conservative, it continues to endorse and expand the doctrine.

In February 2005, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Johnson v. California that the California Department of Corrections ' unwritten practice of racially segregating prisoners in its prison reception centers – which California claimed was for inmate safety ( gangs in California, as throughout the U. S., usually organize on racial lines )— is to be subject to strict scrutiny, the highest level of constitutional review.

In deciding Chimel v. California,, the Supreme Court elucidated its previous decisions.

On January 3, 2011, in The People v. Gregory Diaz, the Supreme Court of California ruled for allowing warrantless search by the police of suspects ' cell phones at the time of the arrest, on the grounds of preventing destruction of evidence such as text messages:

Nevertheless, in California v. Green,, the Supreme Court has held that the hearsay rule is not the same as the Confrontation Clause.

In Faretta v. California,, the Supreme Court recognized a defendant's right to pro se representation.

In Martinez v. Court of Appeal of California,, the Supreme Court ruled the right to pro se representation did not apply to appellate courts.

* July 9 – Earl Warren, Governor of California and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court ( b. 1891 )

However, the Attorney General of California, at the request of the Secretary of Labor, sought to have the jurisdiction over the issue removed to the Federal District Court, on grounds that it was predominantly a Federal issue since the validity of the Secretary's Regulation was being challenged.

It accordingly refused to assume jurisdiction, whereupon the California Superior Court made the restraining order permanent.

It is an accepted juridical principle in California that a Superior Court decision does not constitute a binding legal precedent.

The Attorney General of California concurs in this interpretation and has filed an appeal from these decisions to the District Court of Appeal.

On March 18, 2002, publicly elected At-Large Representative for North America board member Karl Auerbach sued ICANN in Superior Court in California to gain access to ICANN's accounting records without restriction.

* John Joseph Ford ( 1907 – 1982 ), American jurist who served on Los Angeles County Courts ( 1943 – 59 ) and California Second District Court of Appeal ( 1959 – 77 ); elevated to Presiding Justice in 1966

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and covers the area, was averse to enforcing patent claims.

In February 2005, a California Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the original verdict.

The state of California had declined philanthropic proposals to keep the murals in their original location and the Smithsonian withdrew their offer.

Prior to the season, the league declined to approve the Raiders ' proposal to move from Oakland, California to Los Angeles.

In that case, the California Court of Appeals held " it would be obnoxious to the interests of the state and contrary to public policy and sound morality to allow an employer to discharge an employee, whether the employment be for a designated or unspecified duration, on the ground that the employee declined to commit perjury, an act specifically enjoined by statute.

Moving to California, he was approached by conservatives to challenge moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel for his seat in the United States Senate in 1968, but he declined.

Its territory included all of the western United States, though as population declined in the area due to the California Gold Rush and increased in nearby Portland the archdiocese was renamed as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon and the headquarters moved there in 1926.

However, Jacksonville declined due to diminishing returns in the local goldfields and the construction in the 1880s of the Oregon and California Railroad.

In the March 2011 PBS pledge drive programming special Behind the Britcoms: from Script to Screen hosted by Moira Brooker and Philip Bretherton, the series creator / producer revealed that Jean Simmons had declined the first offer of the role of ' Jean ' ( which was written with her in mind ) due to her reluctance to uproot her sunny life — specifically mentioning her dogs, garden, and family — in California.

Davis began his tenure as Governor with strong approval ratings, but those ratings declined as voters blamed Davis for the California electricity crisis and the California budget crisis that followed the dot-com bubble burst.

In May 2001, in the middle of the California electricity crisis, his numbers declined to 42 % approval and 49 % disapproval.

Cook and Borak of the University of California at Berkeley believe that the population in Mexico declined from 25. 2 million in 1518 to 700 thousand people in 1623, less than 3 % of the original population.

However, far western populations, like that of Oregon, and southern California, have drastically declined, often due to habitat loss or incompatible agricultural practices.

The salmon population in four major California rivers have declined as a result, and many natural river environments, such as riparian zones, meanders and sandbars no longer exist.

Pasadena ’ s downtown declined between 1930 and 1980 but has since been revived as “ Old Pasadena ,” one of Southern California ’ s most popular shopping and entertainment destinations.

After the Europeans arrived in California, the population declined from diseases introduced by the Europeans.

During the 1980s, the California wine industry had more acreage of Chenin blanc planted than France, though the numbers of plantings later steadily declined.

The recovery of the sea otter is considered an important success in marine conservation, although populations in the Aleutian Islands and California have recently declined or have plateaued at depressed levels.

Nineteen members of the California congressional delegation — all Democrats — and Republican Governor Pete Wilson called for Lujan to resign from the study group because he was prejudiced to one point of view but Lujan declined to step down from the post.

After the completion of his two-year term, Latham declined to run for another term and returned to California to again practice law, despite being renominated by state Democrats.

Miller declined a commission as a colonel in the Regular Army and resigned from the Volunteers on September 29, 1865, to move back to California when President Andrew Johnson appointed him as collector of customs of the Port of San Francisco, a post he held until 1869 when he declined another term.

Lewis also declined head coaching positions in the college ranks with the University of California, Berkeley and Michigan State University to continue pursuing his goal of becoming a head coach in the NFL.

Resolving the debate over the result of the California 47th's special election, it is implied that Sam was defeated by Congressman Webb and declined the promotion to Senior Counselor to the President that had been suggested by Toby.

However, Solax and the rest of the East Coast film industry rapidly declined throughout the 1920s as a result of the phenomenal growth of motion picture facilities in Hollywood, California that offered lower costs and a climate that accommodated year-round filming.