By Matteo DeVincenzo.  From February 6th to February 9th, thousands of people flocked to Scottsdale, Arizona, to attend the Waste Management Phoenix Open (the “Waste Management”)—Arizona’s premier PGA Tour golf tournament. Following last year’s chaotic turnout, there was significant scrutiny on TPC Scottsdale, the host venue, and whether it could…

By Lydia Giannini.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), alongside several immigrants’ rights groups, is suing the Trump administration for removing statutory protections for noncitizens contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). Among other things, the INA provides noncitizens the right to seek asylum protections when they arrive in…

By Katherine Altaffer.  A Brief History   In Southern Arizona, the San Pedro River snakes its way from Mexico through Southern Arizona, sustaining life for endangered species and providing a lifeline for migratory birds and wildlife. It is the last free flowing river in the American Southwest. Yet, as the City…

By Kylie Cochrane. Flying cars, once viewed as science fiction, may soon become a reality in Arizona. With a history of pioneering transportation technology, the state is positioning itself to lead the nation once again. However, practical and legal challenges remain on the horizon. Arizona’s Role in Advancing Transportation  Thanks…

By Sam Triplett.  As part of a flurry of executive orders following his inauguration, President Trump announced several new immigration policies that reverse course from those of the Biden administration. While the efficacy and, in some cases, legality of these policies remain to be seen, it is clear that the…

By Kyrah Berthiaume.  In Arizona, under A.R.S. §§ 15-711 and -716, sexual health and HIV/AIDS education may, but need not, be taught in state-funded schools. When these topics are taught, under A.A.C. § R7-2-303(A)(2) and (3), parents must opt in to courses and these courses must stress abstinence. While health…

By Ian Bankhead.  Over the last couple of years, the United States has experienced a rapid increase in homelessness across the nation. In 2024, homelessness reached a record-high, with over 770,000 people experiencing homelessness on a given night. This is more than an 18% increase from the previous year. Within…

By Liz Zipp-Seng Background: Educating English Learners in Arizona Arizona’s Proposition 203, passed in 2000, mandates English-only education for English learners in Arizona public schools. The specific requirements of instruction for English learners have evolved over the past decades, but the fundamental basis of Proposition 203 remains codified in the…

By Aliza Lewis.  In January 2024, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Beck v. Neville, officially establishing a legal doctrine for resolving boundary disputes between adjacent property owners. The court’s resolution not only settled the specific dispute between neighbors but also formally recognized the doctrine of “boundary…

By Ethan Schafer.  On Election Day, voters are focused on how they’re going to mark their ballot, not what they’re going to mark their ballot with. It turns out that the correct writing utensil is incredibly important to ensure smooth operations for your polling location. For those voting in person,…

By Chase Duncan.  Nonprobate Transferee Liability under A.R.S. § 14-6102 A.R.S. § 14-6102(A) establishes that, except as otherwise provided by law, a transferee of a nonprobate transfer may be liable to the transferor-decedent’s probate estate for unsecured creditors’ claims. A transferee may be liable only to the extent that the…

By Gabriella Curatola.  House Bill 2042 (“HB 2042”), commonly known as the “Tamale Bill,” was signed on March 29, 2024 by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. When the bill was proposed in 2023, Governor Hobbs opposed the bill due to concerns that it would increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. Legislators…

Guest post by Professor Carl Tobias. In this election year, the divided parties are battling for the Senate majority and the presidency. One reason for the fight is that the party with the next upper chamber majority will greatly affect lower federal court judicial selection. For example, in Donald Trump’s…

By Morgan Larson.  Mandatory Student Programs Fees Are Unlawful  Included in the list of mandatory tuition and fees for students enrolled at Arizona State University is a $35 fee labeled “Student Programs Fee.” The money from this fee funds registered student organizations (“RSOs”). The student government manages the distribution of…

By Cameron Welker.  As Arizona’s population grows, so does the demand for water. For residents, water is an essential resource, but for investment firms, it is a valuable asset. Arizona’s most populous county, Maricopa, experienced the largest population gain in the country in 2022, and the fourth largest in 2023,…

By Kate Cox.  Nothing is certain except death, taxes…and states challenging the limits of federal power. In October 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs announced the one-time Arizona Families Tax Rebate after a bipartisan coalition in the State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1734. This was welcome news to qualifying Arizonans who could…

By Andy Simmerman.  While most people will be focusing on the presidential race this Election Day, Arizona voters will also be casting votes for and against a number of ballot measures known as initiatives. One measure in particular, Proposition 314, is likely to pass on Tuesday and could potentially have…

By Crispin South.  First year law students are often taught that there are two types of governments in the United States: state governments and the federal government. Legal professionals in Arizona are more likely to know that this is a significant oversimplification with a glaring omission. Namely, this overlooks the…

By Allison Mazella.  Phoenix Ordinance G-7264 went into effect on September 1, 2024, updating Phoenix City Code § 23-30 to prohibit camping “within 500 feet of any property boundary of a school, child care facility, shelter, or City park.” In a city where countless individuals already struggle to find a…

By Summer Maughan.  The nondelegation doctrine is the principle under the separation of powers that the legislative branch cannot delegate its lawmaking power and authority. The pivotal reason behind the doctrine is to ensure that elected representatives and government officials subject to constitutional accountability make legislative decisions. In the current…

By Sarah Mancuso.  City of Surprise Council Meeting Leads to Arrest On August 20, 2024, the City of Surprise City Council had Rebekah Massie forcibly removed from Council Meeting and arrested for trespassing in front of her ten-year-old daughter. Surprise’s City Council meetings include a “call to the public” where…

By Daniel Miller.  The current political climate is rife with controversy surrounding election procedure. Here in Arizona, a clerical error made national news when the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office discovered that nearly 100,000 voters were registered to vote in state and local elections without having met the proof of citizenship…

By Kendra Ingram.  It is widely accepted that a lack of competition stifles innovation and that markets can often be overrun by outdated practices that do not operate at maximum efficiency. This can be said about the current corrections infrastructure. Currently, there are only two avenues for prison operations: public…

By AnnaLisa Barlin.  Arizona is one of 14 states that has adopted a judicial merit selection process. Under this system, judges have two pathways to the bench: (a) some judges run for office in contested elections and are elected by the voters, and (b) some judges are appointed by the…

By Giavanna Ventura.  The rise of deepfake technology has sparked debate among lawyers, scholars, and politicians due to the challenge of reconciling regulation with the First Amendment. Deepfakes use artificial intelligence software to create realistic videos, audio recordings, and images. While they were initially used sparingly for entertainment, the quality…

By Stephen Pearson.  Introduction and History  On August 22, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a partial win to the Arizona Republican Party in its quest to require proof of citizenship for voter registration. H.B. 2492, the Arizona law in question, was enacted in 2022, and the federal government with the…

Special Edition: 1L Blog Contest Winner By Maya Dominguez.  Anti-Immigration Laws and Racial Profiling Most people condemn racial discrimination, but many fail to realize that anti-immigration laws are based on many of the same principles. Immigration policies are closely tied to racial biases and issues of racial and ethnic profiling.…

Special Edition: 1L Blog Contest Winner By Ethan Schafer.  Partisan Redistricting Violates Democratic Values Partisan redistricting, also called gerrymandering, involves artfully “cracking” and “packing” voters into federal and state legislative districts so the political party in power can draw lines to their advantage. Redistricting has two rules: (1) districts must…

By Olivia Lechnir.  St. Isidore and Arizona’s Penchant for Charters Two lawsuits are currently pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court and District Court of Oklahoma County regarding St. Isidore Virtual Catholic Charter School, seeking to block the school’s opening for the 2024-2025 school year. If St. Isidore prevails, it will…

By Seth Young.  Is Arizona running out of water?  Based on recent headlines about Arizona, a fair guess would be true.  Over the past year, two incidents have fueled the misconception that Arizona is running out of water: 1) the moratorium on certain permits to build in the Phoenix area…

By Alexandra Van der Gaag.  National Opioid Lawsuits and Settlements Since 2014, attorneys general across the nation have been filing lawsuits against drug manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and other associated parties in an attempt to combat the opioid epidemic and recover related costs. In these suits, plaintiffs claim that “drug manufacturers…

By Natalie Heun.  Solar energy is booming in Arizona. The sunny Grand Canyon State consistently ranks among the highest in the country for most solar energy potential and is on track to install over 10,000 megawatts by 2028. The continued growth of solar energy is important in mitigating the effects…

By Kyndal Pirtle Calhoon.  Imagine that your doctor, unbeknownst to you, had once operated on the wrong limb during a surgery. Or, showed up to the office while intoxicated. Or sexually harassed, fraudulently billed, or violated the privacy of a patient. Would you, as a member of the general Arizona…

By Kyra Haas.  The United States Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado may drastically change the federal government’s involvement (or lack thereof) in how states form agreements with other states regarding water resources.  A deadline looms large over Arizona and the other six Colorado River…

By Brock Meyer.  Arizona, few may know, has a legacy within the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement: it’s the birthplace of the tricolor trans rights flag, designed by longtime Phoenix resident and trans woman, Monica Helms. Regardless of the flag’s fame, Arizona’s LGBTQ+ protections are limited, especially within the realm of…

By Abbie Conrad.  In a unanimous decision earlier this year, the Arizona House Education Committee approved House Bill 2400, a bill that would change Arizona’s current school safety grant program. The bill’s provisions originally expanded the resources supported by the program to include “school safety officers, school psychologists, and the…

By Helen Pauly.  In 2022, Arizona spent less per student on public K-12 funding than any other state. For several years Arizona has ranked between forty-eighth and fiftieth in the nation for per-student state funding, with the issue getting substantially worse after major funding cuts by the state legislature beginning…

By Mattheus Thielemann.  A delicate balance of powers is the cornerstone of the American republic and its constituent state governments. In recent decades, there has been growing concern, both at the federal and state level, of an increased executive power throwing off this balance. The COVID-19 pandemic brought this imbalance…

By Cathryn Newman.  The SunZia Transmission Project  In May 2023, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere and in U.S. History, the SunZia Transmission Project (SunZia). SunZia is a privately funded project comprising a 3.5-gigawatt wind farm in…

By Sarah Wastek.  In January 2024, during her run for Senate, Kari Lake leaked a recording of a conversation she had with Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit. In the recording, DeWit hints that certain powerful people do not want Lake to continue her run for Senate. He begins to ask,…

By Kate Kaufman.  In Governor Katie Hobbs’s State of the State address, she proclaimed that Arizona “has long failed to live up to its obligation to adequately invest fairly in public education in every community.” Hobbs committed to making education reform a top priority of her administration this year. She…

By Reece Tack.  In a controversial case of property rights versus corporate control, Jie Cao and Haining Xia’s (“Plaintiffs”) ownership of their condominium at Dorsey Place in Tempe, Arizona, has been put to the test. Plaintiffs purchased a condominium at Dorsey Place in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018. The complex contains…

By Jack Cahill.  Prospective homebuyers witnessed a surge in home prices over the last several years, particularly here in Phoenix. While this unprecedented trend is slowing down thanks to growth in inventory and lower interest rates, this newfound market stability could be threatened in Arizona and nationwide by the so-called…

By Rosie McCormack.  Every American middle schooler learns that, in our three-branch government, the legislature makes the laws. Few people may know, though, that Arizona’s Constitution grants ordinary citizens lawmaking power too. Article IV, part 1, section 1 of the Arizona Constitution vests lawmaking authority in the legislature, but it…

By Emma Smith.  On September 20, 2023, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge issued a final judgment in Brown v. City of Phoenix, holding that a Phoenix homeless encampment—known as The Zone—was a public nuisance. This ruling imposed a duty upon the City of Phoenix to remove the tents, makeshift…

By Kaitlyn Vance.  The Purpose of the Corporate Transparency Act  Congress signed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) into law on January 1, 2021, which requires certain corporate entities to disclose identifying information. The CTA increases transparency about the ownership and control of corporate entities in hopes of deterring money laundering,…

By Jesse Cresap.  In Arizona, utilities and their regulators disagree over who controls and profits from excess space on utility infrastructure. The Arizona Corporation Commission’s Utility Division Staff asserts authority over the unused space on utility infrastructure and whether cellular antennas can be attached to the outside of a water…

By McKenzie Paulsen.  The New Wave: Proposed Changes for Inheriting a Decedent’s Estate  A new wave of laws is on the horizon for estate planning. What are these new waves? The most prominent changes are the proposed sunset of the increased federal estate tax exemption and the removal, or partial…

By Helen Hitz.  Opinion: Arizona needs to enact an exception to the felony-murder rule in cases where the individual killed was an accomplice of the individual charged with murder. The addition of just six words to Arizona’s first-degree murder statute would mean justice for many Arizonans.  “We ain’t kill Jacob,…

By Sam Curry.  In late September 2023, the Supreme Court granted review in a criminal case originating in Yuma, AZ. The case implicates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, which gives criminal defendants the right to cross-examine witnesses who make “testimonial” statements against them. This area of law has…

By McKenna Hunter.  The Transfer  In 2018, the Town of Queen Creek, AZ was groundwater-dependent; it recognized that its complete reliance on groundwater was insufficient to allow for growth. To diversify the town’s water portfolio, part of the town’s plan included purchasing Colorado River water. As a result, the town…

By Victoria Warkins.  Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Dr. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a biology professor at CalTech and University of Cambridge, introduced her team’s development of the first “synthetic” human embryo in June of this year. Scientists created the synthetic embryo by using human embryonic stem cells. And while the breakthrough…

By Sarah LeFevre.  Should a restaurant or bar be held liable for negligently selling or overserving alcohol to a patron who then causes injury, death, or property damage due to their intoxication? On October 16, 2023, in Torres v. JAI Dining Services, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a state law…

By Faith Helgesen.  Earlier this year, the governor of Arizona signed SB 1291. This bill stipulates that a guardian has the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that requested contact with an incapacitated person will be detrimental to the ward’s health, safety, or welfare. It also establishes a…

By Veronica Andreev.  About the Merger  In October 2022, Kroger and Albertsons announced their intent to merge. At the time of the announcement, Kroger operated 2,800 stores in 35 states, and Albertsons operated 2,273 stores in 34 states. As part of the merger, Kroger will engage in a nearly $25…

By Ryan Larson.  Introduction  Throughout the current downturn in the cryptocurrency market, crypto investors have maintained the motto “Hold On For Dear Life.” The motto may seem especially true when a cryptocurrency such as Ethereum sees a 99% price decrease in a matter of minutes, only to immediately return to…

By Abigail Dood.  Tyler v. Hennepin County: Implications for State Tax Foreclosure Law Generally  On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Tyler v. Hennepin County, holding that a provision of Minnesota law that authorized the state to retain all surplus proceeds from the sale of…

By William Bolger.  Setting the Stage  The Supreme Court sent shockwaves through the world of college athletics with its decision in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston. In Alston, the Court invalidated a handful of NCAA rules that restricted athletes’ ability to receive compensation while they were competing. The case,…

By Abigail Kuhlman.  Art v. Artificial In August of 2022, Jason Allen nervously entered his first fine arts competition under the “Digital Arts/Digitally-Manipulated Photography” category at the Colorado State Fair. Allen’s submission, an image titled “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” (“Space Opera Theater” in English), depicted three classical figures wearing billowing, regal…

By Tyler Mebane.  Arizona is one of the 27 states that currently retains the death penalty as an option for criminal punishment. In January of 2023, Governor Hobbs placed a hold on executions in the state pending a review of the state’s procedures for executions. A few months later, the…

By Clare Remy.  A Brutal, Unsolved Murder  In February 2015, Allison Feldman was found murdered in her Scottsdale home. Despite evidence of the perpetrator’s DNA at the scene, the case remained unsolved until April 2018, when police finally announced that they had arrested Ian Mitcham.  In a press conference, Scottsdale…

By Isabella Santos. Current Litigation on an Age-Old Law  On August 22, the Arizona Supreme Court granted petition for review of Planned Parenthood v. Mayes, reviving earlier litigation from 2022 where Mark Brnovich, Arizona’s Attorney General at the time, requested that the court reinstate a legal ban on abortion dating…

By Kennedy Shulman.  Restricting Access to Gender-Affirming Care until 18 In March of 2022, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed legislation restricting access to gender-affirming health care for minors. The health care ban, SB 1138, states that “[a] physician or other health care professional may not provide gender transition procedures to…

By Devon Vaughan.  The Fake Elector Scheme  On August 16, 2023, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes confirmed reports of an investigation that had been rumored for months: an investigation into an alleged scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. As outlined in the federal charges filed against…

By Bailey Stoltzfus.  Arizona State and the University of Arizona Are Joining the Big 12 in 2024 In August 2023, news broke that Arizona and Arizona State had applied and been accepted to join the Big 12 athletic conference. The Wildcats and Sun Devils are currently members of the Pac-12…

Guest post by Professor Carl Tobias.  President Joe Biden recently traveled to Arizona, Nevada, and Utah when touting his many efforts to protect the environment, curtail climate change, and preserve natural, cultural, and historical resources. For example, Biden designated one million acres near the Grand Canyon National Park as a…

By Andrew Ford.  NFL Player Files Suit Over NIL Deal  In the new frontier of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) contracts for college and high school athletes, a complaint recently filed by Chicago Bears defensive tackle Gervon Dexter, Sr. confirmed what some NIL critics feared: manipulation and coercion of young…

By Bennett Houck.  Phoenix, Arizona has been one of the foundational locations for Autonomous Vehicle (“AV”) testing since 2016. Fellow Phoenicians may remember that in March of 2018 an Uber AV struck and killed a pedestrian crossing Mill Avenue in Tempe, AZ. This incident was the first pedestrian death involving…

By Samantha Fox.  Expanded School Vouchers in Arizona  School Choice has been a topic of debate among politicians, religious leaders, parents, and educators for decades. At the center of the debate are parents wishing to pull their children from the public education system to find a private institution better aligned…

By Melissa Alter.  The 50-50 Model  Earlier this year, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne challenged the future of dual language programs in Arizona’s public school system. On June 19, Horne threatened to withhold funding from schools that use the 50-50 dual language model to teach English to students who…

By Mackenzie Holden.  The Phoenix Zoo’s Elephant Exhibit In 2022, an animal welfare organization, In Defense of Animals (IDA), added the Phoenix Zoo to its 2021 list of the worst zoos for elephants. IDA noted the small size of the elephant enclosure, the high temperatures of Phoenix summers, and inadequate…

By Caroline Anton.  On March 17, 2023, Arizona Governor, Katie Hobbs, signed Executive Order 2023-09 banning race-based hair discrimination in all State agencies. Under the Executive Order, State agencies, as well as State contractors and subcontractors are prohibited from discriminating against job applicants and employees for the style in which…

By Rob Curl.  In December 2022, Arizona’s Water Infrastructure and Finance Authority (WIFA) unanimously passed a nonbinding resolution in support of a seawater desalination project in Mexico. The proposed plant would be built by Israel-based company IDE Technologies near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, where it would process saltwater from the Gulf…

By Kirk Nguyen.  The city of Phoenix has become a popular destination for domestic migrants. Unfortunately, Phoenix housing is unprepared to support an inundation of transplants. Due to a relatively small supply of homes compared to a sudden influx of homebuyers and renters, housing prices soared upwards from historically affordable…

By Ashley Liu.  At 677 W. 19th St. in Tempe, Arizona, you can see a one-of-a-kind home for yourself. At a glance, you’ll notice that the walls look a little unusual: they seem to be laid in horizontal layers. That’s because all of the home’s internal and external walls are…

By Lauren Krumholz.  Bills in the Arizona House and Senate allocate funds to ensure a statewide response to the growing rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in Arizona.  Alzheimer’s Dementia in Arizona In 2020, 150,000 Arizonans over the age of 65 were projected to have suffered from…

By Morgan Sansone.  Those who have recently visited downtown Phoenix have undoubtedly seen several Waymo autonomous vehicles driving and zooming about. For those who are unfamiliar, Waymo is the name of Google’s self-driving car (autonomous vehicle) company. Waymo cars are readily identifiable by their black and white colors and enormous…

By Sarah Betz.  A Sacred Site Since Time Immemorial Oak Flat, located in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest, is a sacred site for many Native American tribes in Arizona. The site has been the epicenter of Western Apache life and spiritual activity since before recorded history, with some comparing its religious…

By Sophie Haase.  Governor Hobbs’ Recent Executive Order On January 20, 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs issued an executive order mandating the appointment of an Independent Review Commissioner to review and report on the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry’s (ADCRR) death penalty protocols and procedures.  Under the order, the…

By Emma Marek.  Is cash still king? Or, has a new era of “cashless businesses” dethroned it? Square, a digital payment company, estimates that the number of cashless businesses has doubled in the U.S. since the beginning of the pandemic. Some businesses adopted cashless policies to minimize physical contact during…

By Zabric Kline.  On October 10, 2022, the Mexican government filed a lawsuit against multiple Arizona gun retailers. This is one of many actions, both in and outside of the courtroom, that the Mexican government is undertaking in order to stop the flow of weapons into their country. The Mexican…

By Jack Cahill.  For decades, people have flocked to Arizona for our abundant sunshine, resorts, and desert amenities. However, as Arizona has grown substantially, it is clear that our water is not abundant. Water scarcity is not a recent problem in Arizona, in fact, questions over who controls our limited…

By Alyannah Buhman.  The first regular session of the 56th Arizona State Legislature opened on January 9th, and House Representative Matt Gress has already proposed a notably progressive bill. Nico Delgado was the bill’s inspiration, a 15-year-old member of the North Valley Republicans Club who actively engages in politics and…

By Max Mashal.  H.B. 2486 and the Bipartisan Push for Magic Mushroom Legislation In January 2023, a bill that would allocate up to $30 million for clinical trials using whole psilocybin mushrooms (colloquially called “magic mushrooms”) was proposed in the Arizona legislature. The bill, known as H.B. 2486, was introduced…

By Ian Balitis.  The Arizona Megadrought Ninety percent of the world’s population lives within six and a half miles of a surface freshwater body. This comes as no surprise considering the essential role water plays in human life. Access to drinking water is necessary for human survival. Approximately 98% of…

By Dallas Fox.  Arizona’s Past and Current Income Tax System Long is the debate on whether state income tax should be split into different tax brackets, kept at a single flat rate, or eliminated entirely. Prior to former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signing Senate Bill 1828 into law on June…

By Evan Ridley.  Amidst a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills currently being brought around the nation, Arizona now has multiple bills in the State Senate proposing to restrict drag performances. Since January, State Senators have introduced four separate bills looking to criminalize drag and the showing of drag to minors, as…

By Tatum Weight.  In a desolate land, thwarted by the scorching sun, spectators from surrounding nations convened by the masses. Some traveled by day and night, journeying thousands of miles to observe the annual phenomenon; others fixed their tents outside the arena, observing the contemporary ritual known as “tailgating.” As…

By William Harren.  In 2020, litigation over mail-in voting exploded across the country.  Concern about COVID-19 forced many voters to stay home and resulted in a record number of absentee ballots. Lawsuits began to percolate as Republicans and Democrats jockeyed for position in the new voting landscape. During the pandemic,…

By Mary Saxon. Arizona has one of the worst homelessness crises in the country. Despite this, Senator John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills recently introduced a pair of bills, Senate Bill 1022 and Senate Bill 1024, which criminalize homelessness. Senate Bill 1022, makes it a class one misdemeanor to sell goods,…

By Katharine Greer. ‘Tis the season for bills. On January 9th, the Arizona State Legislature opened with forty-one new members and a new governor. Representatives and Senators are excitedly plopping their bills in their respective hoppers. As of January 25th, 783 bills have been introduced, a number that will likely…

By Chris Shanley. Arizona residents voted overwhelmingly to approve Proposition 211 at the ballot box on November 8, 2022. The passing of Proposition 211 now requires that independent expenditure committees spending $50,000 or more on a statewide campaign or $25,000 or more on a local campaign must disclose the names…

By Anthony Gonnella. On Halloween morning, October 31, 2022, the Supreme Court heard two cases challenging affirmative action policies in college admissions: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. Petitioners are asking the Court to reconsider the notion that universities…

By Clayton Kinsey. Water, water, water! If you follow the news, presumably you’ve run into a piece about the Colorado River and/or Arizona’s dire water situation. If not, many of my colleagues have highlighted important issues such as the consequences of Lake Mead’s Level 2a shortage, Arizona golf courses’ water…

By Aidan Wright. Arizona has long suffered from poor educational performance compared to other states. As a result, reformers over the years have suggested various solutions to the problem. One such innovation is the school “voucher.” Since 2011, Arizona has offered vouchers to qualified students through the Arizona Department of…

By Esther Gold. Beloved, timeless works of literature are now in jeopardy of banishment from the gates of public school curricula and libraries in Arizona. On September 24, 2022, House Bill 2495 (codified as A.R.S. §15-120.02) went into effect banning the use of or reference to sexually explicit materials in…

By Ashley Lin. The Supreme Court of the United States is hearing an Arizona death row prisoner’s appeal based on an Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure. But the effects of the Justices’ decisions regarding this procedural rule could be unexpectedly profound and far-reaching.   John Montenegro Cruz was sentenced to death…

By Jackson Pittman. A Housing Market on Fire Recent years have been chaotic for the housing market. All-time low mortgage interest rates and a relative shortage of homes resulted in widespread success for home sellers—and overwhelming frustration for buyers. Arizona has been a hotspot for the housing market and new…

While the most recent court order in Arizona’s post-Roe abortion saga brings momentary clarity, the reproductive rights of Arizonans remains in flux. In 1864, prior to Arizona becoming a state, the Arizona territorial legislature codified a law banning almost all abortions with no exceptions for victims of incest or rape.…

By Jack Prew-Estes. Arizona is in the midst of a water crisis. Drought and overuse have parched the Colorado River and its attached reservoirs. As a result, Arizona must endure new water cuts this upcoming year. And while state legislators contemplate expensive solutions like desalination technology, the State Land Department…