A Cochise County Superior Court judge has been awarded second place for a national award presented each year by the American Bar Association.
Judge Wallace R. Hoggatt won the second place honor of the Judge Edward R. Finch Law Day Speech Award for an address he delivered on the steps of the Cochise County Courthouse in Bisbee on April 28 for the court’s annual Law Day celebration.
His speech, The Republic of Jurors, hailed the trial by jury process as a binding force in American society and a method of securing the government by “putting into practice the values that support the Republic.”
“Jury service is the great leveler, and the great educator,” Judge Hoggatt said in his speech. “One of its chief educational functions is to show that each juror has an equal voice in deciding the outcome. Rich and poor, powerful and humble, all benefit from such a lesson.”
News of the award was “very exciting,” said Karen Ferrara, a Cochise County court administrator. “His speech was wonderful. We were thrilled when we heard him deliver the speech.”
The award was created by Edward Finch Jr. in 1968 to honor his father, a former New York Supreme Court Justice and U.S. Special Ambassador to Panama. Justice Finch was also decorated with the U.S. Legion of Merit Award, the Order of the British Empire and the Legion of Honor France; Knight Order of St. John.
Mr. Hoggatt, a Republican from Sierra Vista, is one of three nominees recommended by the Commission of Appellate Court Appointments to fill a vacancy on Division II of the Arizona Court of Appeals.
Other nominees for the position are Peter J. Cahill; a Democrat Superior Court judge in Gila County and Garye L. Vasquez, a partner of Cooper, Vasquez & Reuter; a law firm located in Casa Grande.
Law Day is celebrated each year on May 1 and the award was created to help the public understand and appreciate the role law plays in America.
Speeches are judged by originality and clarity of speech, educational value, public impact and how much it contributes to the public’s understanding of law, according to the American Bar Association’s website.