Paton pushing for the Republicanization of the state’s judiciary

Posted by Craig McDermott

Oh, and the judiciary in Pima and Maricopa Counties, too…

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Commiittee, chaired by Jonathan Paton (R-LD30), approved SCR1002, a proposed change to Arizona's constitution to remove merit considerations when selecting judges for the state Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and the county courts in Maricopa and Pima Counties.

The current merit selection process involves a bipartisan judicial appointment commission made up of lawyes and non-lawyers.  An explanation of the merit selection process is available from the Arizona Supreme Court here.

Paton and his allies on the committee, Maricopa Republicans Chuck Gray, Russell Pearce, and John Huppenthal, made it clear that their sole purpose was to put more conservative Republicans on the bench in Arizona.  They weren't even trying to hide it, as evidenced by their repeated complaints about the "far left" Arizona Bar Association. 

Almost everyone present opposed the proposal, including all of the judges in attendance, both Republicans and Democrats.  They cited the level of respect nationally for the Arizona judiciary and how the state's courts are held as an example of how things "should be" as a reason to not fix what isn't broken.

Their efforts went for naught, however, as the fearsome foursome of Paton, Pearce, Gray, and Huppenthal seemed hell-bent on doing to Arizona's judiciary what they've done to Arizona's education system – make it ideologically pure but quality poor, and a target for ridicule from across the nation.

For those of you who have been living under rocks for the last few months, Paton is a candidate for the Republican nomination in CD8, looking to unseat Democratic incumbent Gabrielle Giffords from Congress.

Given that the atmosphere in D.C. is already partisanly toxic, to the point of driving members into retirement, perhaps a man who is more interested in making the state's judges nothing more than party hacks than in representing the best interests of his district isn't the best choice for a slot in Washington.

East Valley Tribune coverage here; the Arizona Guardian has coverage too, but their story is behind a subscriber-only firewall.

BTW – after watching the lege for nearly four years, and doing so rather intently for the last year, I can state this:

I wouldn't trust these clowns with selecting judges for a wet T-shirt contest, much less judges for the state's, and Pima and Maricopa County's, courts.

Other notes from a day spent at the lege:

…Folks who are pushing/supporting bills in the House and Senate have a little extra time to shepherd them sthrough committee.  Normally, bills have to be heard in committee in their originating chamber by a certain deadline or the bill is dead for the session.  That deadline had been this Friday, but it has been extended to next Friday, February 26th.

…During yesterday's Senate floor session, Jonathan Paton used a "point of personal privilege" to remember the deaths of the Thomas Stewart and his wife and daughter in a helicopter crash in Cave Creek.  Stewart was CEO of the Scottsdale-based corporate giant Services Group of America, and friend/fundraiser to Republican candidates all over the country.