AB2125 downgraded to 'study' bill

 The Recorder has Legislation to Allow Disqualification of Appellate Judges Weakened to 'Study' Bill

State lawmakers on Thursday gutted a bill that would have allowed litigants to disqualify
courts of appeal justices, thwarting advocates unhappy with a panel’s actions in a pending voting rights case.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee removed language in AB 2125 authorizing parties to challenge justices who write or concur with opinions reversed by the state Supreme Court and remanded to the court of appeal for further action. The bill instead will now simply require a two-year study of how trial court judges, commissioners and referees are currently removed from cases for prejudice under Code of Civil Procedure 170.6.