Arizona lawmakers agree to let voters decide on retention rules for state Supreme Court justices
PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers voted Wednesday to send an initiative to the November ballot that would protect two state Supreme Court justices who faced removal from the court over their support for a near-complete abortion ban dating back to the Civil War.
Both chambers of the Legislature agreed to let voters decide Nov. 5 whether to eliminate six-year terms for Supreme Court justices and four-year terms for Superior Court justices in large counties. That will allow them to serve indefinitely “during good behavior,” unless otherwise decided by a judicial review committee, and avoid a retention vote at the ballot box whenever their terms expire.
As a ballot initiative, the proposed law would bypass Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, a strong supporter of reproductive rights who signed a Legislature-approved repeal of the 1864 law this spring.
Several Democrats who voted against the measure noted that the retention rules were championed by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who had been an Arizona state senator and a judge of the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals.
The retention system “provides the kind of checks and balances that are critical to our democracy,” said Senator Flavio Bravo. “It would be a shame to take this action six months after the death of Justice Day O’Connor, and I am voting no.”
Republican Sen. Dave Gowan, the bill’s sponsor, noted that judges would still be subject to judicial review by a committee “to say if they don’t belong.”
The measure is likely to appear on the ballot alongside an initiative that would enshrine the right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution.
The final Senate vote on the judicial ballot initiative was 16 to 10, with four senators not voting. Republican Senator Shawnna Bolick, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, ignored requests from several colleagues to recuse herself and voted in favor.
Justices Bolick and Kathryn Hackett King joined the Supreme Court majority in April and voted to reinstate the 1864 abortion ban. They are the only two members of the Supreme Court eligible for a retention vote in November.
Both were appointed by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who expanded the court from five to seven justices in 2016.
If approved by voters, the measure would apply retroactively to Oct. 31, days before the election, and would effectively disregard the outcome of any vote on judicial custody this year.
If it fails and voters also choose to oust Hackett King and Bolick, Hobbs can choose their replacements.
“They are absolutely ramming through,” said Abigail Jackson, spokesperson for Progress Arizona, a group that advocates for the judges’ removal. “We will continue to do our work to inform voters that this will take away their power.”
Democrats have made abortion central for the first time in decades in their quest to take control of the state Legislature. Senator Bolick, who represents one of the most competitive districts, is a top target.