Arizona State Law Journal Blog

By Jacob Pierce.BACKGROUNDOne of the leading publications on tax related issues, Kiplinger, in a recent state-by-state guide, named Arizona the ninth best tax state (i.e., most friendly) for individuals and businesses. Kiplinger measured this success by looking at a sum of sales, income, and property tax paid in each state by hypothetical filers. As many fiscal conservatives believe is the best course of action, Governor Ducey credited this achievement to keeping taxes simple yet fair, which has allowed taxpayers to keep more of the money they earn. It is hard to deny some of the positive effects that have resulted from this simplification of the tax code in Arizona. Overall, Arizona taxpayers are paying almost $1,800 less in combined state and federal taxes. Although this is great for current residents…

By Danika Marzillier.THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AT THE FEDERAL LEVELThe Endangered Species Act of 1973 (the “Act”) is one of the United States’ largest pieces of conservation legislation and was enacted with the purpose of protecting vulnerable species and their habitats. Not only does the Endangered Species Act include the designation of vulnerable species as either threatened, endangered, or critically endangered, it also allows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to designate and control areas of critical habitat, thereby preventing further adverse development of the land. Critical habitat is defined under the Act as specific zones within a geographical area occupied by a species that has the physical or biological features which are essential to the conservation of a species and which may require special consideration. It goes further…

By Hannah Eaton. ExaminingSatanic Temple v. City of ScottsdaleOn February 8, 2016, Jeremy Zarzycki called Kelli Kuester, an assistant to the Scottsdale mayor, to ask that the Arizona chapter of the Satanic Temple organization be added to the Scottsdale City Council’s invocation schedule. Normally, the City Council for Scottsdale opens its public session with an invocation. Michelle Shortt, the head of the Arizona chapter for the Satanic Temple, would be giving the invocation. Ms. Kuester added the Satanic Temple to the invocation schedule for April 5, 2016. Ordinarily, Ms. Kuester handled the schedule for invocation, but Brian Biesemeyer, the acting City Manager who made the ultimate decision about the invocation’s proceeding, stepped in. The scheduled date for invocation was pushed back to July 6, 2016. Mr. Biesemeyer contacted the City Attorney…

By Roman Buss.IntroductionIn recent months, the President has issued several proclamations that affect not only United States citizens, but also groups of students and workers who call this country home. Immigration has repeatedly proven to be a divisive political issue in this country, with most legal scholars, political experts, and even leisure debaters viewing this topic through the lens of illegal immigration. Being close to the border, Arizonians rarely hear about immigrants who have traveled to the state from Asia, Europe, or the Middle East, and who have come all this way to pursue their education. Arizona State University is currently home to more than 11,000 international students from more than 130 countries. Generally, a majority of these students enter the country on an F-1 or M-1 nonimmigrant student visa,…

By Brianna Pachuilo.IntroductionThe Arizona Supreme Court recently decided in State v. Arevalo that an Arizona statute that increases criminal penalties based upon gang affiliation is unconstitutional. While many states have statutes that heighten charges for crimes committed to support gang activity, the Arizona statute increased the penalty for threatening and intimidation by virtue of simply being a gang member.The StatuteThe Arizona criminal statute for threatening or intimidating is A.R.S. § 13-1202. According to the statue being a “criminal street gang member” upgrades the offense from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony. Although a class 6 felony is the least serious felony offense, there are still significant differences between being charged with a felony and misdemeanor. First, the baseline sentence for a class 6 felony is one year…

By Alexandra Nathe.Every lawyer has a duty to promote equal access to our justice system and advocate for improvements to the law. The Model Rules of Professional Ethics were created to codify this and other legal duties while acting as a guide to ensure right and proper conduct in the practice of law. But what happens when the rules that are supposed to advance access to the legal industry actually work to restrict it?The Task Force on Delivery of Legal ServicesIn 2014, the Arizona judiciary created a strategic agenda to further one simple objective—advancing justice. Goal number one of this agenda was “Promoting Access to Justice.” To assist in reaching this goal, the Arizona Supreme Court created the Task Force on Delivery of Legal Services to review the regulation of…

By Kole Lyons.Gangs have been documented in Arizona as early as the 1930s. Since then, gangs have increased in number and become involved in more criminal activities around the state. As violent crime in Arizona was reaching a peak in 2005–2006, the state legislature amended the statute criminalizing threats to punish threats made by gang members harsher than threats by non-gang members. For example, if the average citizen makes a criminal threat, he will be charged with a misdemeanor; if a member of a gang makes the same threat, he will be charged with a felony. "Original Golfos" by El Chico Iwana is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 The reasoning behind this amendment likely came from the presumption that when a gang member makes a threat, they are more likely…

By Madison Leake.On August 27, 2020, Tom Hatten, owner of Mountainside Fitness, opened the gym’s doors to the public despite the fact that the application to do so had been explicitly denied. This act of rebellion highlights the face-off between local business—particularly fitness centers and gyms—and local government.The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily closed businesses all across the country. Since re-opening plans are left to the states, each state has opened businesses in differing orders and at differing times. For example, Arizona’s neighbor, New Mexico, has taken the opposite approach to Arizona by opening gyms before indoor dining. Arizona has appeared to have taken a unique approach by opening almost everything, and then targeting a select few types of businesses for closure. The most recent closures extend only to water parks,…

By Alexandra Eagle.In the last few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred heated debate over how best to ensure safe and equitable access to voting. Not only has the current public health crisis exacerbated many of the social concerns already implicated in discussions about voters’ rights, it has prompted many states to quickly alter voting practices and laws to ensure a broad, safe range of options for voters. However, summer elections have demonstrated numerous challenges; long lines, polling-place closures, and concerns about the capacity of both the Postal Service and the respective states to handle an increased demand for mail-in ballots have impacted primaries in the last few months.Arizona is no exception. The state has increased funding and efforts surrounding early voting options, and will allow early voting at polling locations for…

By Andrew Jacobsohn. In an effort to combat the surge of COVID-19 cases in Arizona over the summer, GovernorDoug Ducey (R) on June 29 issued the executive order “Pausing of Arizona’s Reopening—Slowing the Spread of COVID-19,” which, among other provisions, shut down bars until at least July 27. This order has been repeatedly extended and is still in effect. On August 10th, the Arizona Department of Health Services (“ADHS”) announced the guidelines for bars and other affected businesses to begin reopening. Broadly, these guidelines include requirements of the business (such as following certain sanitation requirements), and benchmark requirements that are independent of the bars’ control, such as the percentage of COVID-19 tests that return positive. Specifically, until the county achieves a less than 3% positivity rate, bars that serve food must convert…