Arizona Republic: “The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that a new state law changing the nominating process for appeals court judges is unconstitutional because it makes a fundamental change in the balance of power between a voter-approved nominating commission and the governor. The high court said in its ruling that the law directly conflicts with the state Constitution and cannot be enforced.”
Arizona Republic: “Stung by an adverse ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court, Mesa is drastically loosening its rules on tattoo parlors. . . . With legal help from the Goldwater Institute, the Colemans sued Mesa, charging that the city had quashed their First Amendment right to artistic expression. Last September, the Arizona Supreme Court sided with the Colemans, agreeing that their profession falls under First Amendment protection. It was the first such ruling by any state high court in the country.”
Arizona Republic: “A former Cave Creek town manager is suing the town over the manner in which he was fired from his position of more than 10 years. Usama Abujbarah and his lawyer, Daniel Bonnett, filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court last Wednesday, claiming that Cave Creek and its Town Council violated Arizona’s Open Meeting Law.”
Arizona Republic: “Blood-test results will be suppressed in at least 11 felony drunk-driving cases that originated in Scottsdale following a Superior Court Judge’s ruling this week, which could affect hundreds of other cases. The DUI cases were consolidated and set before Superior Court Judge Jerry Bernstein because they all had one thing in common: a challenge to the validity of the blood-testing equipment in the Scottsdale Police Department’s crime lab.”
Arizona Republic: “Arizona has lost another battle in its ongoing war to restrict abortions, adding to a growing list of defeats this year for the state’s anti-abortion movement. On Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Arizona cannot strip Medicaid funding from doctors and clinics that perform abortions, upholding a lower-court ruling. House Bill 2800, which the Legislature passed and Gov. Jan Brewer signed in 2012, would have halted Medicaid reimbursements for contraceptives, cancer screenings, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and annual women’s exams at the state’s more than 80 hospitals and clinics that also perform abortions.”