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Arizona clemency board won’t stop execution
Arizona's clemency board has turned down a death-row inmate's request that his sentence be commuted to life in prison or that his scheduled execution be delayed.
Supreme Court confronts victims’ rights impasse
A capital defendant accused in a 2006 mass murder and several organizations representing defense attorneys from around the nation will argue before the Arizona Supreme Court on March 22 to keep crime victims out of private hearings with the trial judge to discuss mitigation efforts of the defense.
Convicted Arizona killer seeking stay of execution
Lawyers for a condemned convicted killer have filed a second motion with the Arizona Supreme Court seeking a stay from his scheduled March 29 execution.
Thomas’ case straddles old, new Bar discipline systems
No doubt to his dismay, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is shining a high-beam light on Arizona’s new system of disciplining attorneys.
The system, which took effect Jan. 1, eliminated steps from the process and added more laymen to the decision-making, and is so new that Thomas is only the second lawyer to be strapped with a complaint.
IRC budget based on experience and guesswork
The last statement James Huntwork made as a member of the first Independent Redistricting Commission in his last meeting in June 2009 was that the next IRC would need “a lot of money.”
How much money the newly seated IRC will need is a mystery.
But the thinking of those involved with the first one is that the legal disputes, which consumed so much money last time, will be[...]
Judging judges: Legislation shedding more light on judicial complaints advances
This week the Senate passed a ballot measure that would open to the public all documents and proceedings pertaining to complaints filed with the Commission on Judicial Conduct, which investigates judges accused of ethics violations and misconduct.
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.
