Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

On a few occasions in my stint as Managing Editor of the Capitol Times, I’ve gone home on Thursdays – the day we put the print edition to bed – worried that a change in circumstances will render one of our stories irrelevant. That came true Thursday in a big way, and it was too late to stop the presses.

The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency has recommended a reduced sentence for a man serving a life sentence for a 1969 murder and pardons for a former state agency head convicted of a procurement violation and a man who was part of an armed robbery almost 20 years ago.

Defense attorneys for Pierce and his wife, Sherry, filed a motion saying the government wants the court to order that FBI reports, transcripts and recordings of witness interviews, and financial records and tax records of third parties be protected from the eyes of the public.

Sen. Judy Burges, a Sun City West Republican, held two bills on February 16 designed to reduce recidivism that had the support of conservative and liberal justice reform groups.

The Department of Public Safety has completed its look into a stash of guns and ammunition found in the Department of Economic Security building after the dismissal of the agency’s head, Tim Jeffries, in November.

With former Gov. Jan Brewer watching over the defense of her legacy, a panel of appeals court judges grilled a lawyer who argued the Medicaid expansion Brewer shepherded into law is unconstitutional.

A bill proposed in the Arizona Legislature challenges the notion that video evidence in police shootings and fights is foolproof.

The media usually seeks out the analysis and opinions of Arizona State University law professor Paul Bender when there’s a news story involving questions of Arizona law or the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Doug Ducey’s robust K-12 public schools agenda for the 2017 Legislature left the various interest groups of the education establishment thrilled, yet calling for longer-term solutions to Arizona’s education woes.

Republican lawmakers defied a core GOP principle of limited government in 2016 by passing a bill that enlarged the Arizona Supreme Court to seven justices from five.