The Supreme Court today assigned Justices Andrea Hoch (Third District Court of Appeal) and Raymond Ikola (Fourth District, Division Three) as pro tem justices for Briggs v. Brown, the writ petition challenging Proposition 66, the voter-approved but currently stayed expedited-execution initiative. Hoch and Ikola are sitting in place of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Ming Chin, who are recused. The assignments were presumably made by Acting Chief Justice Carol Corrigan.
Because of the alphabetical method of assigning pro tems, it is not surprising that Justice Hoch was chosen for the case. But there were a few other justices alphabetically ahead of Justice Ikola who might have been assigned.
In any event, this is a further sign that Briggs will be argued on the late-May or early-June calendar.
