Arizona Supreme Court
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The Arizona Supreme Court is the court of last resort in the state of Arizona. The court was established in February 1912 and consists of a Chief Justice, a Vice Chief Justice, and three Associate Justices.
Case load
The Arizona Supreme Court's chief justice prepares an annual report each year that shows the number of cases filed with the court, and the number of cases that the court terminates.[1]
| Fiscal year | Cases terminated | Cases filed |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1,150 | 1,164 |
| 2007 | 1,262 | 1,161 |
| 2006 | 1,250 | 1,256 |
| 2005 | 1,122 | 1,164 |
| 2005 | 1,210 | 1,170 |
The Arizona court system altogether had a total of 2,536,966 case filings in 2005.[2]
The court's justices
Selection of justices
The Arizona Supreme Court's justices are chosen using the Commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection to six-year renewable terms. They are subject to retention elections at the end of each term.
Qualifications
Minimum qualifications for appointment to the court are:
- A nominee to the court must have been a state resident for at least ten years.
- The nominee must have been licensed to practice law in Arizona for at least ten years.
- The candidate must be less than 70 years old, since there is a mandatory retirement age of 70.
Current justices
The justices are listed here in order of when they joined the court.
| Name | Beginning of service | Current term expires | Appointing Governor | Political Party of Governor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca White Berch | 2002 | 2010 | Hull | Republican |
| Andrew Hurwitz | 2003 | 2012 | Napolitano | Democrat |
| Michael Ryan | 2002 | 2010 | Hull | Republican |
| Scott Bales | 2005 | 2014 | Napolitano | Democrat |
| John Pelander | 2009 | 2014 | Brewer | Republican |
Chief justice
Rebecca White Berch is the current Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. [3]
Removal
Judges in Arizona can be removed multiple ways. They may be impeached by a majority vote of the Arizona House of Representatives and summarily convicted by a two thirds vote of the Arizona Senate. The Supreme Court itself my censure, suspend, remove, or retire a judge based upon recommendation of the commission on judicial conduct. Lastly, judges in Arizona are subject to voter recall elections.
History of the court
The court was first assembled in February of 1912. Since then, 39 justices have sat on the bench. Article 6, Sections 1 through 8 of the Arizona Constitution concern the supreme court specifically, while the rest of the article discusses the Arizona judiciary as a whole. From 1912 to 1974, justices of all levels were elected to their respective courts (except in the case of unscheduled vacancies); in 1974, however, the passage of Proposition 108 ushered in the current era of merit-based judicial appointments. Proposition 108 additionally provided for "retention elections of merit-selected justices or judges after their appointments."[4] Section 2 of Article 6 requires that there always be at least five justices on the supreme court bench, regardless of legislation that may increase or decrease the amount of justices at any given time. Article 33 protects justices and judges from salary deductions during their term(s) in office.
External links
- The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review
- Arizona Supreme Court Homepage
- Minutes for Arizona Supreme Court, August 2007
- Judging the Justices: A Review of the Arizona Supreme Court, 2003-2004
- American Judicature Society: Methods of Judicial selection
- Arizona Supreme Court Homepage
- Good to Great: Judicial Strategic Agenda 2005-2010
- Arizona State Constitution: Article 6
References
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