Recent Articles from Bob Christie, Associated Press
Arizona judge weighs state request to enforce abortion ban
An Arizona attorney on Friday urged a judge to allow the state to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a law that has been blocked for nearly 50 years through a now-overruled U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Judge rejects challenge to predatory debt initiative
A judge has rejected a challenge to a voter initiative aimed at limiting so-called predatory debt collection, finding that opponents of the measure did not prove a summary provided to voters who signed qualifying petitions was misleading.
Ruling puts Arizona voting access initiative on life support
An Arizona voter initiative that would expand voting access and roll back tightened election laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey was teetering on the edge of failure Friday after a judge disqualified tens of thousands of signatures backers turned in to qualify it for the November ballot.
Ducey touts school voucher plan, slams opponents
Gov. Doug Ducey and backers of universal school vouchers took a victory lap Tuesday over legislation the Republican-controlled Legislature enacted in June giving the state the nation's most expansive voucher system, and he also used the time to attack backers of public schools who are trying to block the measure at the ballot.
Court battles rage over 3 voter initiatives
Proponents of three voter initiatives who each turned in hundreds of thousands of signatures last month to qualify them for the November ballot are trying to beat back legal challenges that could prevent them from going before voters.
Arizona won’t wait for feds, starts filling border wall gaps
Arizona began moving in shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area.
Speaker Bowers has no regrets over his loss
Arizona voters relegated House Speaker Rusty Bowers to the history books after the conservative Republican crossed former President Donald Trump and refused to back his unsupported claims that he lost in 2020 because of fraud.
Big Arizona provider will not resume abortions despite ruling
The leader of Arizona's largest abortion provider said Tuesday her organization will not resume the procedures in one county even though a federal judge has blocked a fetal "personhood" law they feared could lead to criminal charges against doctors and others.
Federal judge blocks Arizona’s ‘personhood’ abortion law
A federal judge in Phoenix on Monday blocked a 2021 state "personhood" law that gives all legal rights to unborn children and that abortion rights groups said put providers at risk of prosecution for a variety of crimes.
Arizona abortion providers halt procedures after Roe ruling
Abortion providers across Arizona halted procedures Friday while they try to determine if a law dating to pre-statehood days means their doctors and nurses could face prison time now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that abortion rights are not protected by the Constitution.
Records show coordinated Arizona ballot collection scheme
An Arizona woman indicted in 2020 on accusations of illegally collecting ballots apparently ran a sophisticated operation using her status as a well-known Democratic operative in the border city of San Luis to persuade voters to let her gather and in some cases fill out their ballots, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
Ducey lawyer drops bid to be top Maricopa County prosecutor
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s in-house lawyer has dropped her bid for the Republican nomination as the top prosecutor in Maricopa County. Anni Foster announced her decision to end her campaign […]