Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services//January 30, 2025//[read_meter]
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services//January 30, 2025//[read_meter]
Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday placed the first Black and Hispanic woman on the Arizona Supreme Court.
The governor chose Maria Elena Cruz, now a judge on the Court of Appeals, from among the five names submitted by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. By law, Hobbs was required to choose from that list.
Cruz had been considered the odds-on favorite, and not only because she was the only nominee who got unanimous approval from the commission.
While the governor’s office called the appointment a “historic” moment for the state, Hobbs bristled when asked about how important it was to her to choose a Black Latina. “Do not insult with this question,” Hobbs responded. “She is eminently qualified.’”
Cruz said there is a good reason for having someone with her background and who looks like her on the court.
“My question would be the opposite: Why should the courts not reflect the population?” she said. “Why should a state that is so diverse have a Supreme Court that looks like one racial aspect of our state?
“The fact that we’ve had 49 justices and only had five women does not engender trust from citizens in the court,” said Cruz, who is from Yuma. There is one Hispanic judge on the High Court — John Lopez who joined the court in 2017 after being tapped by then-Gov. Doug Ducey.
“The courts are an expression of people’s self governance, right?” continued Cruz. “And if we are self-governing, then the court should be the ‘self.’ ”
Cruz, who replaces Robert Brutinel who retired at the end of last year, pointed out that the Arizona Constitution requires both the commission that screens applicants and the governor to “consider the diversity of the state’s population” when recommending and appointing judges to the High Court.
Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer pointed out that Brutinel was the only one of the seven justices who came from outside of Maricopa County. And she said there is no geographic diversity requirement for the Supreme Court — nor, she said, a “rural perspective on what the law is.’”
“However, there is a tremendous need for a rural perspective on the regulatory aspects of the court,’” Timmer said, adding that it is important when the court is considering new rules and regulations, including those that determine the ease of access to the courts, to determine how — and whether — they would work in rural areas.
“So having someone from Yuma, and a former Superior Court judge to boot, is a tremendous boon to our Court,” the chief justice said.
Timmer, who has known Cruz for years — she tapped her to be presiding judge in Yuma County — also credited her with having “a strong voice,” and important feature, says Timmer, if Cruz is to “hold her own in the room’” with the other six justices “and to contribute to ensuring the correct decisions are made at our court.”
Cruz becomes the only Democrat on the court which consists of five Republicans and a political independent.
At a press conference Wednesday, Cruz said it was never her goal to be appointed to the Supreme Court.
“My goal was to serve my community, an area that is known as a legal desert where it’s very difficult to get an attorney,” she said. That was brought home, Cruz said, when she had a car accident and needed an attorney.
“In order for an attorney to even give me a consult — I know this is strange to people in Maricopa County where you can’t take two steps without running into a personal injury lawyer, but my father knew someone who knew someone who was able to get me an appointment,” Cruz said. “And I saw in that person someone who could champion my cause. And I thought, ‘This is something I can do to help vindicate people’s rights.’ “
Cruz, who will be sworn in on Monday, sidestepped a question on her views on immigration issues, noting that judges are not supposed to give answers to legal questions that are not formally before the court.
“What I will say is when the people in our state, whether they are directly impacted by these policies and rules, when they look at our court, now all the way up to the Supreme Court of our state, they’ll be able to see themselves reflected, and they’ll have a little bit more confidence in the fact that decisions that are going to be made are not going to be made from a perspective that doesn’t take into account their diversity.’”
A native of Puerto Rico, Cruz said she moved to Arizona at age 14 and has been in Yuma for 32 years. A graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law, she worked for the Pima County and later the Yuma County attorneys offices before becoming a public defender.
While in private practice, Cruz also served as a judge for the Cocopah Indian Tribe before being elected to Yuma County Superior Court in 2008 where she served until Gov. Ducey named her to the Court of Appeals in 2017.
Hobbs also mentioned that Cruz, while a judge, was tapped to manage the Swift Accountable Fair Enforcement court program which aims to reduce recidivism. And Cruz also started Yuma County’s first-ever “restitution court,” which worked to ensure that those convicted of crimes compensated their victims.
Cruz was chosen from five nominees submitted to Hobbs by the appellate court nominating commission. Others on that list were:
Under constitutional rules, no more than 60% of nominees can be from the same party. And since no Republicans applied for the vacancy, that forced the panel to send Hobbs the names of political independents.
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