The Daily Agenda: The court's big week
The Daily Agenda: The court's big week
It's not over, but it could be soon ... What's wrong with some Jell-O? ... And this morning meeting is too loud.
In a particularly weighty week for the Arizona Supreme Court, the justices headed off a potential battle of the branches of government and nearly ended an election denier’s quest to overturn results.
First, the court sided with Gov. Katie Hobbs, saying the governor isn’t required to execute a death row inmate on the April 6 deadline the court had previously set.
That quashed worries of a constitutional crisis over the execution of Aaron Gunches, who was convicted in a 2002 murder. The family of Gunches’ victim has repeatedly said the delay in his execution is causing them distress. But Hobbs has paused new executions as the state examines how to carry them out properly, a longstanding problem in Arizona.
With one potential crisis averted, Hobbs scored another victory as the high court shut down nearly all of her Republican gubernatorial opponent’s election complaints in an ongoing appeal that Kari Lake insists will make her the rightful governor.
The court tossed six of the seven claims Lake made in her election lawsuit, sending one back to the Maricopa County Superior Court for another review. That claim centers on signature verification procedures, with Lake claiming Maricopa County isn’t properly following rules to assess voters’ signatures on mailed ballots.
Lake, predictably, cast the ruling as a victory, despite the fact that a review of those procedures wouldn’t be able to show she somehow won an election she lost. Any potential signature problems would need to be mathematically proven to have altered the election outcome in order to succeed in court, the Supreme Court said in its ruling. Abe Hamadeh, who narrowly lost the AG’s race, jumped on the ruling in a new filing, saying he should get a shot at attacking signature verification, too.
The court also opened up the potential for sanctions against Lake, letting defendants including Hobbs and the county make a case for why the GOP contender should be sanctioned over the lawsuit and its many unsupported claims.
Arizona courts have shown a willingness to consider and, at times, grant sanctions in some farcical election lawsuits, most recently dinging Secretary of State loser Mark Finchem for his election-overturning claims. Adrian Fontes, who beat Finchem handily, is seeking $67,000 in sanctions against the former lawmaker.
Neither the execution issue nor the election denialism cases are truly over. Hobbs will need to figure out how or if the state will resume executions, a process that’s likely to take months now that the courts have alleviated any immediate pressure on the Gunches case. And she, and the rest of the state, will continue to face loud, angry voices who believe she couldn’t have been rightfully elected.
But last week, the strongly conservative Supreme Court helped the Democratic governor on both fronts.
How to win friends and influence people: While DC Democrats figure out what to do with the newly independent U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Sinema is talking trash about her Democratic colleagues and working to win over Republicans, Politico’s Jonathan Martin reports. Her comments have given Republicans hope that she’d possibly caucus with them, if she were to win reelection next year. In meetings with Republicans, she’s joked about how Democratic caucus meetings boiled down to “old dudes are eating Jell-O, everyone is talking about how great they are.” At another GOP fundraiser, she “flashed her middle finger in the air” when talking about then-White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
“She’s the biggest egomaniac in the Senate,” one of her moderate Democratic colleagues told Politico.
Mobile home crisis continues: The Phoenix City Council voted down a plan that would have protected mobile home residents from evictions as three parks are trying to move out their residents, the Republic’s Juliette Ruhl and Taylor Seely report. Progressives on the council wanted a moratorium on the evictions and further work to protect mobile home parks in the city, but lost out to city staff and Mayor Kate Gallego’s wing of the council. In a separate move last week, the council’s progressives found an ally in outgoing conservative member Sal DiCiccio to approve an ordinance that will require higher pay for workers on city construction projects, Seely reports.
Expecting facts from Tucker Carlson?: An Arizona man who landed at the center of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories wants Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to retract statements about his involvement in the insurrection and apologize on air, the New York Times’ Alan Feuer reports. Ray Epps, who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, was accused by Carlson (and others on the far right) of working as a government agent to provoke insurrectionists that day. Epps was not charged for any of his Jan. 6 activities and did not enter the Capitol itself. Epps’ lawyer sent the demands to Carlson, saying the host’s lies have defamed his client and caused significant harm.
In the legislative cross-hairs: A standard bill to reauthorize the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind has hit legislative snags that could cause the school to close unless lawmakers act quickly, the Republic’s Mary Jo Pitzl reports. The school needs a continuation bill passed, a typically perfunctory exercise, but the Arizona Senate has delayed hearings on it, and lawmakers haven’t publicly said why. Advocates for the school suspect the delay may be part of an effort by Sen. Justine Wadsack to open up the school to students with other disabilities, while Senate President Warren Petersen told Pitzl there may be some “alarming” financial issues that need addressing.
No longer rural: Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen shows how Queen Creek exemplifies a rural-urban divide that has pushed Arizona from a red state to a swing state. The town on the edge of the Valley has exploded in recent years but remains a Republican area, though Olsen said the area’s tech explosion and rapid rise likely mean it will move away from the GOP.
Google her if you don’t know: Wesley Bolin Plaza could get a statue soon of Arizona suffragist Frances Willard Munds, Axios Phoenix’s Jeremy Duda reports. The Arizona Women's History Alliance is nearing its fundraising goal for the statue’s placement, while the statue itself is completed. Next steps include meeting with the state to figure out where the statue could go. Meanwhile, our Don Bolles memorial bill is on life support after Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman once again refused to hear it in his Government Committee, where the House version of the bill was assigned after clearing the House with a supermajority vote. This week is the final week of committee hearings (unless legislative leaders extend that deadline) and it’s not on the committee agenda.
What’s happening in schools: The Cartwright Elementary School District will move staff to a four-day workweek, mirroring students’ school week, in hopes of attracting more educators. The Arizona Education Association and other schools groups want the state to put $2.2 billion more into public schools. Migrant children whose families are seeking asylum miss a lot of school, affecting their learning for years afterward. Stand for Children Arizona said it will act as a watchdog over Superintendent Tom Horne and any changes he may try to make for English language learners. Scottsdale and Chandler schools settled lawsuits over vaping, but haven’t said how much they’re getting in the settlements.
Classic dogwhistle: Dr. Matt Heinz, a Pima County supervisor, wrote in the Arizona Daily Star about how the supervisors recently took a rare step to ban a public commentator from meetings for a few months because she had repeatedly called Heinz, who is openly gay, a “pedophile” during calls to the public.
Welcome to the party: Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is bringing his Forward Party to Arizona, announcing the group’s plans to try to get ballot status here in advance of the 2024 elections, Pitzl reports in the Republic. The new party, if it gets enough signatures, would join the No Labels party alongside the established Democrat, Republican and Libertarian tickets. Four Democrats have already said they’d call themselves “Forward Democrats” but not switch their official party affiliation — Arizona Reps. Alma Hernandez, Consuelo Hernandez, Lydia Hernandez and Keith Seaman.
Blame it on the Constitution: In response to an ethics complaint against her, Arizona Rep. Liz Harris said she was constitutionally required to allow a woman to give a conspiracy-laden presentation to a joint elections panel, the Republic’s Ray Stern reports. Harris came under fire after the presentation, with some of her GOP colleagues deriding the hearing for defaming a heap of public officials. Harris said lawmakers “cannot abrogate the power of the people to freely speak of their grievances or block them from our legislative house and access to their servants,” though the Legislature often limits speech in public hearings.
Withstanding the threats: The Copper Courier’s Alyssa Bickle highlights the couple who own Brick Road Coffee in Tempe, which was recently hit with a bomb threat and has faced protests over its hosting of drag story hour events. The couple, Gabe Hagen and Jesse Shank, say their coffee shop serves as a gathering space for the LGBTQ+ community and their customer base remains “fiercely protective” of the shop.
“43% POO” and “100% SMELLY”: An Arizona-based company that makes dog toys went before the U.S. Supreme Court last week to defend one of its toys, a “Bad Spaniels” parody of Jack Daniels, against a suit from the liquor company over the company’s trademark, Cronkite News’ Alexis Waiss reports. VIP Products LLC of Phoenix says its toy is a lawful parody, even if Jack Daniels doesn’t like it.
“They’re complaining about the speech, the parody, the comparison to dog poop and a Bad Spaniel, not the mark,” Bennett Cooper, the company’s attorney, said.
Need a job? Look no further: Pima County has more than 1,000 open positions, making up about 14% of its workforce, as the county struggles to recruit workers amid an ongoing worker shortage, the Green Valley News’ Jorge Encinas reports. Meanwhile, in Nogales, the city is looking for a new public housing director.
Rest in peace: Ben Shelly, a former president of the Navajo Nation, died last week at age 75 after an illness, the Navajo Times’ Kianna Joe reports.
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