The state of California is wading into a 20-year legal dispute over ownership of a French Impressionist painting taken by the Nazis during World War II from a Jewish woman whose heirs settled in La Mesa. In a motion announced Thursday, the Attorney General’s Office asked for permission to file a “friend of the court” brief that argues in favor of giving the painting, now hanging in a Spanish museum, to the Cassirer family. “California has long asserted its strong interest in seeking justice for art theft victims,” the state wrote. The paperwork was filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit...