Arizona judges are behaving badly. Has faith in our justice system faltered?
Judges are getting more scrutiny these days, from the U.S. Supreme Court to Arizona’s top justices to local jurists.
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have been the topic of numerous news stories that raise ethical questions about the justices' actions as members of the high court.
In southeastern Arizona, Cochise County Judge John Kelliher Jr. has drawn outsize attention for his conduct: Four formal complaints about his courtroom demeanor in two years.
Last month, the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct dismissed the latest complaint against Kelliher, but only because the complaint was filed years after his alleged questionable behavior in a 2016 hearing. The commission noted Kelliher has subsequently been disciplined for similar poor conduct in three other cases, so additional discipline was not needed.
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What does all of this mean for the public confidence in the judicial system? Are we reaching a tipping point of lack of confidence more broadly? Or is this just all par for the course in a time of political teeth-gnashing?
In this episode of the Gaggle, we prob those questions and more. Hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl sit down first with Arizona Republic reporter Sarah Lapidus. She has followed Kelliher’s track record with the Judicial Conduct Commission and explains why he continues to draw complaints that lead to high-profile reprimands.
Then, Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers School of Law, shares his views on what is going on at this moment in time and how the judicial process is perceived.
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Read the episode transcript here. Please note that there might be slight discrepancies due to the AI used to transcribe the conversation.
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Do you have questions about Arizona politics? Send them to us at thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com or leave us a message at 602-444-0804.
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Contact the producer at kaely.monahan@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @KaelyMonahan.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona judges, US Supreme Court justices under intense scrutiny
