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

Here’s the good news: if misguided decisions got us here, then better decisions can lead us out. And better information is an important part of that. Or at least that’s the idea behind Reforming Arizona Criminal Justice, which is a collaborative project from the Academy for Justice and the Arizona State Law Journal.

Speak out, get involved, stand up for what you believe. Democracy is alive and well. A bit bloodied, but still alive. And we need to keep it that way. That is my take.

EVIT is a school of choice – and we will continue to honor the choice East Valley families made to send students to EVIT for in-person learning. We will remain committed to the resilience it takes to prepare our students for the real world.

If the Arizona Legislature wants to help drug cartels and organized crime, then heeding the Institute for Justice and establishing a “conviction first” statute for civil forfeiture is a great start. The only people such a measure will hurt are law abiding citizens, prosecutors and police officers. But drug dealers? They will absolutely love it.

Imagine an Arizona House of Representatives modeled in part on the system used in Illinois. There would be Republicans elected from liberal bastions like Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson. Democrats would be elected from conservative places like Mohave and Yavapai Counties.

Making Puerto Rico a state would respect the will of the Puerto Rican people, provide true representation for the American citizens on the island, and be of economic benefit for both Puerto Rico and the mainland. Hopefully, Representative Grijalva will support Puerto Rico statehood unequivocally, and move critical legislation out of his committee to help make it happen.

For thousands of years cannabis has been used for food, fuel, fiber, medicine, spirituality/religion, health, and leisure. And now in Arizona we can appropriately call its use recreation. I, for one, believe that this expanded access to legal cannabis for responsible adult “recreational” use – by any definition – is healthy for our communities.

Gaps in our health care system have become more obvious and urgent under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s use this time to think differently about how providers can deliver care and act now and normalize methadone treatment. We all will thrive as a result.

As an attorney and retired judge I have always considered the Arizona Constitution to be the highest law of the state, not a set of guidelines. That’s why I am a plaintiff, along with a top local businesswoman, in the lawsuit brought by Rose Law Group challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 208, potentially the largest income tax hike in Arizona history.

Compared to where our nation stood just 10 years ago, America’s energy revolution is moving further and faster than most people ever dreamed. Arizona played a leading role in this revolution, and thanks to the ACC’s new clean energy rules, we will continue to lead in the years and decades to come.