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Arizona voters reject repeal of criminal detention

Harry November 7, 2024

Two Arizona Supreme Court justices are facing dissent over a lawsuit. Decision earlier this year allowing the implementation of a near-total ban Abortion-affiliated parties appeared poised to hold on to their seats as election results continued to roll in on Wednesday morning.

Dismissal of judges, Clint Bolick and Kathryn KingThat would be unprecedented: Arizona voters have never removed a Supreme Court justice.

In the same vote, voters flatly rejected a proposal to eliminate term limits for judges. The Associated Press declared Proposition 137 failed on election night, when results showed roughly three in four Arizonans opposed the measure. The ballot measure would overhaul the current system of electing judges at regular intervals and would be retroactive; this meant that judges could remain on the panel even if they were eliminated individually.

Election night results were unofficial.

Once all votes are counted, counties across the state will tally the votes or officially report the results to the state. The Arizona State Department then conducts its own certification in late November.

Election 2024: See Arizona election results | Election Day live broadcast

Normally sleepy judicial elections have fueled this year’s political excitement. April decision reinstating a near-total abortion ban It dates back 160 years.

The Arizona Supreme Court’s 4-2 vote strengthened support for abortion rights in a year when Democrats sought to use the issue to increase turnout and propel their candidates to victory; but this strategy was not a clear success in early election night results. MPs and Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs swiftly repeal abortion banIt is replaced by a law that allows abortion up to the 15th week of pregnancy.

Progressive and left-leaning groups had hoped that outrage over the Supreme Court decision and support for access to abortion would mobilize voters to remove two justices, each appointed by Republican former Gov. Doug Ducey.

But two organized campaigns have emerged urging Arizonans to retain the duo, noting that the voter-approved system for measuring a judge’s performance has found that both meet standards. They condemned the politicization of the court based on a single decision.

Arizonans voted 50 years ago to scrap traditional elections and use a merit-based system that favors the appointment process and allows the public to vote on whether judges should be retained. Arizona Supreme Court justices serve six-year terms.

Arizonans said Tuesday they preferred that system and rejected Proposition 137. Republican lawmakers sent the measure to voters, proposing sweeping and retroactive changes to judicial elections when 69 judges were on the ballot.

The proposal would eliminate automatic retention elections. Instead, voters will have a say over judges only in certain cases.

Circumstances that would trigger a judge’s election include being convicted of a felony or a crime involving fraud or forgery, having a personal bankruptcy proceeding in debt, being subject to a mortgage foreclosure, or being determined by a judge to be a judge. A majority of the Judicial Performance Review Commission said the judge did not meet standards. The voter-approved commission evaluates judges on integrity, legal competence, administrative performance, judicial temperament and communication skills.

The commission said both Bolick and King met those standards.

Ducey fielded Bolick in 2016 and King in 2021.

Bolick was Ducey’s first appointment and was made several months before Ducey signed legislation expanding the panel from five to seven justices. This expansion came over the objection of the court’s chief justice at the time.

Bolick was previously vice president of litigation at the Goldwater Institute and served as president and general counsel of the Alliance for School Choice. He also served as vice president and litigation director at the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that represents citizens challenging government agencies and overreach.

If he remains in office, Bolick will not be able to serve out his full term because Arizona judges are required to retire at age 70. Bolick will turn 70 in late 2027.

Before the board, King was a partner at BurnsBarton PLC, a labor and employment law firm, and a member of the Board of Trustees that oversees the state’s three public universities. He previously served as Ducey’s deputy general counsel from 2015 to 2017. After graduating from law school, he worked as a law clerk for Arizona Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Ryan.

King became the fifth woman to serve in the field.

Until last month, all seven judges on the state’s most powerful court were appointed there by Republican governors. Former Judge Robert Brutinel retired October 31It gives Hobbs a chance to appoint someone new. That process, which requires public submission and the recommendation of a bipartisan commission, is ongoing.

This story will be updated as election results are announced.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at: [email protected] or 480-416-5669.