Voters favor keeping most judges on the bench
Multiple judges in courtrooms across the state are watching to see if voters will let them continue to serve on the bench. Most judges appear to be on track for retention, except for one.
Maricopa County voters were able to decide if they wanted to retain 49 judges: 40 Maricopa County Superior Court judges, six Arizona Court of Appeals judges and three Arizona Supreme Court justices.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry barely received more “retain” than “not retain” votes in the first round of results. She is the only Native American judge in Maricopa County Superior Court.
More than 1.4 million ballots have been counted, mostly from early voters.
Still to come are results from inperson voting Tuesday. Results from early ballots dropped off at the polls on Tuesday, other early ballots and provisional ballots will come later in the week.
Dozens are listed on the ballot every other year as part of the process of judicial retention for judges appointed through merit selection.
These judges are first appointed, not elected, to the bench. A judge can be removed or disciplined for behavior by the Commission on Judicial Conduct, but their judicial performance also is up for review for voters.
After serving for four years in Superior Court or six years on an appeals court, judges are evaluated by the Commission on Judicial Performance Review and placed on the ballot for retention. The commission surveys attorneys, jurors and witnesses in a process to determine whether a judge “meets” or “doesn’t meet” judicial performance standards. All the judges on the ballot this year met the commission’s performance standards.
Judges are evaluated on five performance standards: legal ability, integrity, communication skills, judicial temperament and administrative performance. Political affiliations are not part of the review.
If judges receive more “retain” than “not retain” votes in the election, they remain on the bench until their next retention election.
Who’s on the ballot?
Chief Justice Robert Brutinel of the Arizona Supreme Court is on the ballot. One of the many things on his strategic agenda is improving communities of color’s trust in the court system and addressing issues around racial disparities.
In Maricopa County Superior Court, Presiding Criminal Court Judge Patricia Starr, Presiding Family Court Judge Bruce Cohen and Presiding Civil Court Judge Pamela Gates are on the ballot as well.
The Maricopa County Democratic Party campaigned against two Superior Court judges, Christopher Coury and Gentry.
Coury ruled against placing on the ballot the Proposition 208 initiative on education funding, saying the Invest in Education Act’s 100-word summary was “misleading,” leaving out important provisions and creating confusion for voters.
The measure was restored after an appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Coury told The Republic this was the first time he had dealt with a campaign to get him off the bench. He said politics hadn’t played a role in any of his decisions.
Gentry is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and the only Native American judge in Maricopa Superior Court. She is now assigned to the juvenile division. She met the commission’s performance standards, but surveys were critical of her judicial temperament.
Steven Slugocki, the chairman for the Maricopa County Democratic Party, told The Republic it doesn’t consider race when evaluating judges but works to highlight candidates it believes will advance the party’s policies and used a variety of sources to inform its decisions.