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Thomas challenges State Bar’s case against him
Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has filed motions before the presiding disciplinary judge of the Arizona Supreme Court attacking the legitimacy of the State Bar of Arizona's case to have him disbarred.
Early attacks on judicial merit selection dwindle to a few
A vigorous assault this year on the way Arizona chooses its judges has subsided to a handful of ballot measures and bills that have made their way through the Senate, but this year, the effort has more momentum than in past legislatures.
George W. P. Hunt: Arizona’s political heavy-weight through its first three decades
When George Wylie Paul Hunt plunked his 300 pounds into the Arizona governor’s chair, he was a hard man to remove, even when it looked as if the voters had tossed him out.
Pension pickle: Public safety employees hate both bills
As talk of pension reform heats up at the Capitol, organizations representing public safety employees such as police officers and firefighters may have to choose among three unappealing options: a bill they hate, a bill they hate even more and lawsuit they might lose.
Four IRC members meet, delay choosing chairman
The four newly sworn-in members of the Independent Redistricting Commission met for the first time on Feb. 24, then stalled in choosing a chairman from a slate of five independents.
As death-penalty cases stack up, Supreme Court searches for help
The Arizona Supreme Court can comfortably death penalty cases at a pace of 10 to 12 per year. Most of their decisions are to uphold the death sentences. But now there are 27 capital cases, a number that has grown from 17 in 2008, and even more cases are reaching the appeal phase.
In battle to cut Medicaid, Arizona faces new challenge
Now that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said Arizona doesn’t need a waiver from the federal government to remove 250,000 patients from AHCCCS, the timing and mechanism used in removing those people will be key to a planned legal challenge from patients contending to be harmed by the cuts. Sebelius is flanked by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Lawmakers offer bills affecting access to records, meetings
Requiring that all meetings of public bodies include time for the public to express concerns and introduce issues would make government more open and interactive, a state lawmaker contends.
Policy center’s quandary: How to give voters scoop on judges
Uncomfortable with the sources of information voters have before judicial-retention elections, the Center for Arizona Policy is seeking more revealing electronic scorekeeping on judges’ rulings.
Arizona schedules executions on March 29, April 5
The Arizona Supreme Court said Tuesday it will give the state the go-ahead to execute Daniel Wayne Cook.
Gould: Screening commission showed its bias
The conservative principle of eliminating judicial merit selection now has a poster child for Sen. Ron Gould, a Lake Havasu City Republican, who on Jan. 31 filed a stack of proposals to change how Arizona chooses its judges.
Adams’ pick for redistricting commission: Scott Freeman
State legislators have begun the final step of appointing nominees to the Independent Redistricting Commission, which will redraw the boundaries of the state’s legislative and congressional districts. The process kicked off Monday, Jan. 31, as Republican House Speaker Kirk Adams selected Scott Freeman, an attorney from Maricopa County, to serve as a commission member.
