We mentioned in this post that the Chief Justice and Assembly Leader Charles Calderon engaged in a bit of verbal sparring in advance of this week’s Assembly vote on AB 1208, the Trial Court Rights Act. But in an interesting turn of political fate, Leader Calderon was able to move the bill out of the Assembly only to have it immediately shelved by the Senate. As reported in this Los Angeles Times article, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said, “‘The Senate has no near-term plans to refer that bill to committee.’” The Times suggests Calderon hurt his cause substantially by refusing to amend the bill before sending it to the Senate, instead saying, “If it was up to me I’d eliminate the Senate altogether.” Whatever the reason, given the Chief’s outspoken criticism of the bill, we assume that she and the Judicial Council are pleased.