The court started in 1912 with three justices.[4]Alfred Franklin, Donnell L. Cunningham, and Henry D. Ross took office on February 14, 1912. In 1949, the Court expanded from three to five justices.[5] In 2016 it was further expanded from five to seven justices.[6] This expansion was criticized at the time by some as court packing.[7]
The jurisdiction of the court is prescribed by Article VI, Section 5 of the Arizona Constitution.[8] Most of the appeals heard by the court go through the Arizona Court of Appeals, except for death penalty cases, over which the Arizona Supreme Court has sole appellate jurisdiction. The court also has original jurisdiction in a few other circumstances as outlined in the Arizona Constitution. A quorum is three, but the whole court must sit in order to declare a law unconstitutional.[9]
Selection of justices
Arizona Supreme Court Building in downtown Phoenix.
The chief justice is chosen for a five-year term by the court, and is eligible for re-election.[10]They supervise the administration of all the inferior courts. They are chairman of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, which nominates candidates to fill vacancies in the appellate courts. If the governor fails to appoint one of the nominated candidates within sixty days of their names being submitted to her or him, the chief justice makes the appointment.
The vice chief justice, who acts as chief justice in the latter's "absence or incapacity," is chosen by the court for a term determined by the court.[11]
Justices are selected by a modified form of the Missouri Plan.[12]A bipartisan commission considers applicants and sends a list of nominees to the governor. The governor is required by law to appoint from this list based on merit, without regard to party affiliation. Justices are then retained for an initial period, after which they are subject to a retention election. If the justice wins the election, their term is six years.
Between February and April 2024, the Arizona Senate (with all Republican state senators approving and all Democratic state senators objecting) passed a resolution to change the Arizona Supreme Court term length from six years to lifelong, which would apply retroactively and override the result of the November 2024 Arizona Supreme Court retention elections. The resolution was approved by the[13]Arizona House of Representatives and sent to voters as Prop 137 for the November 2024 election.[14] Prop 137 was overwhelmingly rejected, with 77.7% of voters voting “no”.[15]
Qualifications
Admitted to the practice of law in Arizona and be a resident of Arizona for the 10 years before taking office;
May not practice law while a member of the judiciary;
May not hold any other political office or public employment;
Harrison v. Laveen, 67 Ariz. 337, 196 P.2d 456 (1948), a case in which the Court held that the state constitution's use of the phrase "persons under guardianship" applied only to judicial guardianship and had "no application to the plaintiffs or to the Federal status of Indians in Arizona as a class."[17]
Sanchez v. Maricopa County, CV-24-0013-PR, a case ruling that a county's sheriff will be held liable for their deputies' negligence while on the job[19][20]
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