While Abe Hamadeh’s slow-rolling 2022 Election Contest of the ultra-close Attorney General race is still in a legal system purgatory between the trial court and the appellate courts (see accompanying article), the fur is flying with sanctions filings above and below.Above, in the Arizona Supreme Court, the Hamadeh legal team is OBJECTING to the Justices’ Order imposing sanctions on them for their quickly-denied Special Action Petition. Hamadeh attorney Tim LaSota filed the objection to Contestee (not in her official capacity) Kris Mayes’ $42,000+ legal bill – but not the Secretary of State’s $13,000 application.LaSota attempted…
Continue Reading SANCTIONS SCOREBOARD UPDATE(S), HAMADEH EDITION: (1) Mayes and Secy of State APPEAL DENIAL of Sanctions In Trial Court, (2) Hamadeh OBJECTS To Sanctions In Supreme Court

Kari Lake’s have apparently given up challenging the results of the 2022 gubernatorial election. Instead, their appeal brief slings new allegations alleging that Maricopa County officials intentionally sabotaged the election and then perjured themselves. They tell the Court of Appeals judges that a new trial would be “futile”. So, instead of correcting alleged errors by the trial judge, they ask the appellate court to just order a new election.Besides not being how either Election Constests or appeals work, the 61-page Opening Brief devotes nearly half of its bulk addressing “new evidence” about Maricopa County’s certifications of the Vote Center tabulators…
Continue Reading NEW: "Uncharted Territory" – Lake's Attorneys File Appeal(?) Brief Morphing Their Election Contest Into Demand For 2022 Election Re-Do, Sling Sabotage and Perjury Allegations (READ Brief)

Arizona pays its bills, and it has paid the $2.1M remediation bill from the U.S. government for the shipping container border wall. The U.S. dismissed its lawsuit against Governor Ducey-then-Hobbs today, indicating the check went through.The total cost to Arizona taxpayers for the stunt (the containers were said to be ineffectual) was more than $163M.The federal government sued because it alleged Arizona had placed the containers on land along the border that it was not permitted to use.
This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. “AZ Law” includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the …
Continue Reading UPDATE: Arizona Pays Feds' $2.1M Bill For Shipping Container Border Wall Remediation, Case Dismissed

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen’s aggressive strategy of intervening in court cases backfired today, as a judge ruled that they waived their legislative privilege in a challenge to voter registration/citizenship laws passed last year.Democrats will now be able to depose Toma and Petersen and to obtain otherwise-privileged communications into why they passed HB2243 and HB2492 in 2022. Democrats, Native American and progressive groups challenged the laws claiming they were discriminatory and would illegally disenfranchise thousands of voters.HB2492 requires proof of citizenship and proof of location of residence be provided along with the voter registration form.
Continue Reading BREAKING: Oops, Petersen/Toma's Aggressive Intervention Strategy Backfires In Arizona Voter Registration/Citizenship Lawsuits (READ Order)

ASU’s Michael Crow and UA’s Bobby Robbins (in addition to the 8 other university Presidents) are incentivized to harm what remains of the PAC-12 conference at next week’s meeting. Therefore, Washington State and Oregon State filed suit today to prevent the 10 departing members from participating in future meetings.(On the same side now)The Complaint was filed in Washington state court, against the PAC-12 Conference and its (soon-to-be) outgoing Commissioner George Kliavkoff. A Board Meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday.Judge Gary Libey has set a hearing on a Temporary Restraining Order for Monday morning (11am).UA and ASU – along…
Continue Reading BREAKING: PAC-12 Breakup Heads To Conference Family Court On MONDAY (READ Complaint)

A former Arizona Supreme Court Justice today petitioned his former colleagues to overturn part of the judicial retention election process.Teaming up with the Goldwater Institute, Justice Andrew Gould is trying to abolish the district-like system, which they say disenfranchise voters outside of Maricopa County. The Petition (below) raises some interesting points about a system that they say is a vestige of an earlier time in Arizona when voters actually elected judges. (In 1974, Arizonans went to a ground-breaking merit selection and retention system.)The Court of Appeals – in between the trial courts (Superior Courts) and the Supreme Court – is…
Continue Reading NEW: Fmr Supreme Court Justice Asks (Fmr) Colleagues To Overturn District-Like Retention Elections For Court of Appeals' Judges (READ Petition)

The long-awaited final order dismissing Abe Hamadeh’s Election Contest for the ultra-close 2022 Attorney General race has been signed. This clears the way for Hamadeh to finally appeal the determination.Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen has been hanging on to the case since late December, and he finally DENIED the defendants’ requests for sanctions and cleared up the other outstanding motions.Within the past week, the Arizona Supreme Court and Court of Appeals have dismissed two efforts by Hamadeh’s attorneys to begin the appellate process (and the former sanctioned Hamadeh for misleading the court about the lower court status). Hamadeh…
Continue Reading CELEBRATE! Judge Signs Order DISMISSING Hamadeh Election Contest, Clears Way (Finally) For APPEAL; DENIES Sanctions (READ Order)

Mark Finchem – and, his ready-to-retire-before-being-disbarred attorney Dan McCauley – filed their Brief appealing the $48,000 in sanctions imposed for his frivolous Election Contest. Not only did they file it (one day) late, but they try to sneak back in several of the issues which *they* had dismissed one month ago.The, um, not-tight-and-not-proofread (e.g. “Latches” as a subject heading?) 51-page brief flat out concludes by asking the Court of Appeals to reverse both the sanctions AND the dismissal (“Contestant prays that the trial court be REVERSED and that based on the above this Court reverse the lower court’s…
Continue Reading SANCTIONS SCOREBOARD UPDATE, MORE SANCTIONS INCOMING? Finchem (& His Attorney) Files Brief Appealing Sanctions In Election Contest… Plus So Much More (READ Brief)

 8:30am: “THIS MORNING: AZ Elections Director On Witness Stand Rebutting Co-Conspirator’s Claims Of 2020 Election Fraud”Bo Dul, Arizona State Elections Director in 2020, will take the (virtual) witness stand this morning in Jan. 6 Co-Conspirator John Eastman’s California Bar disciplinary proceeding. She will be rebutting Eastman’s unfounded claims that fraud in Arizona justified his activities in helping mastermind the “fake electors” and Jan. 6 plans.Dul – who is now General Counsel for Governor Katie Hobbs – tells Arizona’s Law she will be sworn in at approximately 9:30. Per discussion in court yesterday, her direct examination by the California…
Continue Reading THIS MORNING: AZ Elections Director On Witness Stand Rebutting Co-Conspirator's Claims Of 2020 Election Fraud (ARIZONA'S LAW SHORTS)

The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously sanctioned Abe Hamadeh and/or his legal team for misrepresenting the legal situation in their Special Action Petition directly with the highest court, in an effort to free a stuck court process.However, the Hamadeh team did succeed in getting it unstuck, as the Court ordered Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen to sign and enter an appealable judgment “forthwith.”As Arizona’s Law had discussed when the Special Action was filed, there are limited bases for filing a Special Action with the Supreme Court, and this did not seem to comply with those rules. The Justices…
Continue Reading BREAKING, SANCTIONS SCOREBOARD UPDATE: AZ Supreme Court REFUSES To Hear Hamadeh Special Action, Socks Them With Sanctions Also orders trial judge to immediately SIGN appealable judgment

(Arizona’s Law is an independent,
non-partisan legal news blog. When we engage in analysis or commentary, we
attempt to label it as such. This article may be classified as “news
analysis” because it attempts to provide interpretations that add to
a reader’s understanding of a subject.)

A new election litigation frontier is a near certainty as a result of events over the weekend. Like
last week’s Hints from the Courts news analysis, this article aims to alert
readers to intriguing developments and analyze the Arizona angles.

Since the January 6 insurrection, there
has been discussion of Section 3 of the…
Continue Reading LIKELY LITIGATION, ARIZONA PERSPECTIVE: Arizona's Presidential Preference (Primary) Election and January 6 (NEWS ANALYSIS)

(Arizona’s Law is an independent, non-partisan political news blog. When we engage in analysis or commentary, we attempt to label it as such. This article may be classified as “news analysis” because it attempts to “provide interpretations that add to a reader’s understanding of a subject.”)Arizona’s Law generally reports on events that have happened or are about to happen. Several recent Arizona appellate opinions point to very interesting developments in the area of initiative and referendum law. Some intriguing statements recently may impact the sure-to-come litigation challenges to initiatives and referenda seeking to be on the 2024 ballot –…
Continue Reading HINTS FROM THE COURTS: The Arizona Litigation Landscape For the Abortion Rights Initiative and Other Citizens’ Petitions (NEWS ANALYSIS)