Legislation aimed at rooting out the discriminatory use of peremptory challenges in California jury selection sailed through the state Assembly on Friday without a hint of an intense debate taking place over the bill behind the scenes.

Since late May, the legislation has been the source of pointed exchanges among the Alliance of California Judges, other jurists and Assembly leaders over the role judicial officers should play in ensuring representative juries are chosen. The debate has played out as state judiciary leaders maneuver through public outrage at the death of George Floyd while in police custody and ethical canons that urge restraint in public comments.