Arizona State Law Journal Blog

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 overhead sensors and are just one of a myriad of self-driving cars being tested. Arizona has become a hotspot for autonomous vehicle (AV) testing, in part because of its dry climate and grid-like street systems. As of November 2022, anyone 18 years or older can use Waymo’s ride-hailing service in downtown Phoenix and experience a ride without anyone in the driver's seat.  Waymo aspires to foster transportation safety, as 94% of crashes in the United States involve human error. While…

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 significance to that of Mount Sinai or St. Peter’s Basilica. Now, the federal government is allowing a mining company to destroy this sacred site. In March, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear what is “probably the most important Native American religious liberty case in 15 years.” The Backdoor Deal In the 1870s, the United States government forcibly removed the Apache people from their ancestral land and onto the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation to make way for commercial…

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 appointed Commissioner shall investigate, review, and provide transparency regarding: (1) Arizona’s procurement of lethal injection drugs, including the source of the drugs, the cost to the State for their procurement, and drug composition, (2) Arizona’s procurement of gas chamber chemicals (as Arizona is the only state to currently have a working gas chamber), (3) ADCRR procedures for conducting executions (i.e., setting lines for a lethal injection, transparency/media access regarding executions, inmate’s access to legal counsel, and contingency planning), and (4)…

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 purchases in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Regardless of the medical efficacy of these policies, many businesses have continued to embrace the cashless model for myriad other reasons. Some of the pros of the cashless model include faster transactions, reduced theft and robbery, reduced operational expenses, and improved accounting.  However, cashless models negatively affect consumers that may prefer or rely on cash payments. One of the strongest arguments against going cashless is financial exclusion. The FDIC reports…

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 government claims that these gun retailers are systematically participating in the trafficking of guns and ammunition to Mexican cartels. The Mexican government predicates this claim on a pattern of weapons recovered at crime scenes to be traceable to the gun distributors being sued.  The Mexican Government Has Made Similar Claims in the Past This is not the first time that the Mexican government has brought claims against U.S. businesses involved in the firearm industry. On August 4, 2021, 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 and most precious resource have raged since before statehood. These questions are of fundamental importance to the 22 federally recognized tribes within our borders; especially the Navajo Nation, the largest tribe by land and population. The Navajo water needs are serious in light of the persistent drought, and 30% of Navajo households still lack running water, as many residents travel vast distances to collect water from non-potable sources. Despite the nation’s serious water needs, no attempt has been made to…

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 has a strong sense of civic duty. The Arizona Civic Participation Act, lesser known as HCR 2004, proposes to lower the age requirement to run for an elected office from 25 to 18 years old. Although HCR 2004 is somewhat controversial, legislators from the left and the right at least agree on one thing: the current legislature is not reflective of the general voter population. Representative Gress illustrated this issue by quoting a 2020 study that found that the average…

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 Republican Representative Kevin Payne and has bipartisan support, with notable backers including Republican Senator T.J. Shope and Democratic Representatives Jennifer Longdon and Stacey Travers. If passed, H.B. 2486 could pave the way for Arizona to become a world leader in groundbreaking psilocybin research. Psilocybin: The Most Pervasive Drug You’ve Never Heard Of Psilocybin is the ingredient that puts the “magic” in “magic mushrooms.” The naturally occurring psychedelic compound is found in over 200 species of mushrooms and has been…

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 electricity production worldwide relies on water. The viability of agricultural food sources is dependent on water. Our reliance on water cannot be understated. Unfortunately, Arizona currently faces its worst drought in 1,200 years. To add insult to injury, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred unprecedented population growth across Maricopa County, exacerbating the harmful effects of the megadrought. Put simply, water is at a premium in Maricopa County and, predictably, conflict has followed. On January 1, 2023, the City of Scottsdale followed through…

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 30, 2021, the Arizona state income tax consisted of four distinct tax brackets. The lowest bracket taxed individuals at 2.59% of income below $27,808 and hit a maximum tax of 4.5% on every dollar beyond $166,844. This progressive tax structure had the effect of taxing Arizonans at an increasingly punitive rate as they earned larger taxable incomes.  Immediately after SB 1828’s passage into law, Arizona’s income taxation shrunk to two brackets only, where all income up to $27,808 was taxed…