Senate Minority leader leaves leadership to run for Congress
Sen. Minority Leader Raquel Terán, D-Phoenix, is stepping down from her leadership role in the Senate to run for Congressman Ruben Gallego, D-AZ's, congressional seat.
Darcy Olsen: A new generation of justice for foster kids
Even after seven years as a foster parent, Darcy Olsen still gets teary eyed talking about the children who have come into her life. Not just for those the system has failed but also for the success stories.
Supreme Court Justice Ann Scott Timmer: Fourth of a kind
Only four women have served on the Arizona Supreme Court. But Justice Ann Scott Timmer found the one silver lining to the state’s gross underrepresentation at its highest court: “The good news is I’m in the top five of all time.”
Clemency board at risk of lawsuit for unfulfilled obligation, seeks additional funding
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency is requesting about $34,000 to fund a part-time position needed to conduct probable cause hearings – an obligation the board has not fulfilled since funding was cut in 2010.
Lindsay Herf: Finding holes in America’s justice system
Lindsay Herf’s mission in life is to find the holes in our justice system. As executive director of the Arizona Justice Project, she leads efforts to investigate claims of innocence.
Death row thinning in Arizona, nationally – reasons vary
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ most recent data – accounting for prisoners under sentence of death as of December 31, 2015 – Arizona did see its first uptick in death row inmates in five years with the addition of two inmates in 2015. But that runs counter to the slow yet steady decline of the state’s death row.
Farnsworth remains silent on killing popular court bills
Republican Rep. Eddie Farnsworth single-handedly ended much of the Arizona Supreme Court’s legislative efforts at giving poor people a break in the justice system.
Sponsor calls for more diversity as governor signs Supreme Court expansion
Gov. Doug Ducey will have an unprecedented opportunity to stack the Arizona Supreme Court with his own appointments before his first term is halfway finished after signing legislation adding two new justices to the bench.
Commission recommends $15,000 raise for judges
The commission that recommends salaries for lawmakers, executive officials and judges is hoping members of Arizona’s judiciary won’t have to go a full decade without a pay raise.
Judicial imbalance
Relatively few private attorneys want to become judges in Arizona
Stagnant salaries and diminished retirement benefits keep private attorneys from joining Arizona’s bench, which is becoming unbalanced by increasing numbers of former government lawyers, said a lobbyist for Arizona judges.
State Supreme Court justice fights effort to remove him
The only state Supreme Court justice on the retention ballot is striking back at Republicans calling for his removal because of a ruling on a ballot measure to change the state’s election system.
Republican committees in Legislative Districts 12 and 18 circulated flyers calling for a no vote for Justice John Pelander, a Republican who was Gov. Jan Brewer’s first selection to the Sup[...]
Robes OK in campaign photos? New Commission on Judicial Conduct director has the answer for judges
Deciding whether to pose in the black robe for a campaign ad is not just a matter of style and public relations for a judge — it also presents an ethical question.
Making the wrong choice on such a seemingly simple question can put a judge in hot water. They play by a strict set of rules that are aimed at maintaining their impartiality and upholding the appearance that they are impart[...]