At issue is the U.S. Supreme Court's June 8 ruling in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal. In the decision, the justices ruled that elected judges must step aside when huge campaign contributions from interested parties create an appearance of bias.

The Caperton case centered on a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who remained involved in a lawsuit filed against a company that was a generous campaign contributor.

In light of that decision, the Nevada Supreme Court on July 17 ordered the state's Commission on the Amendment to the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct to provide it a report on when judges should disqualify themselves from cases.

The commission had already released a report on April 2 looking at revisions to Nevada's judicial code of conduct.

But in the report's executive summary, it notes that the Caperton case is pending and wanted to issue a report on disqualifications after the U.S. Supreme Court decided it.

The commission could propose revisions to the judicial conduct code.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.