Arizona State Law Journal Blog

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 of the money’s original sources that have contributed $5,000 or more. This Proposition only applies to advertisement expenses.How did Arizona Proposition 211 Come to Be?The Voters Right to Know and Stop Dark Money organizations originally filed the petition to get Proposition 211 on the November ballot in March 2022. Almost 400,000 signatures were gathered before the July deadline, of which 285,000 were found to be valid under Arizona’s signature rules. The 285,000 signatures were enough to get Proposition 211 on the…

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 may consider race in determining admissions.Legal History of Race-Conscious College Admission PoliciesGrowing out of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, universities began implementing affirmative action policies into their admissions procedures. These policies aim to increase the representation of marginalized minority individuals, such as people of color and women, in higher education. Although there was pushback from white students who claimed “reverse racism” and sought a prohibition on racial considerations, the Supreme Court did not bar the practice. Since then, the Court has…

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 usage, a “sweetheart” deal for Arizona groundwater to cultivate alfalfa, and stakeholder negotiations (or lack thereof) regarding Colorado River water. In addition to their fantastic analysis, it is essential to highlight Tribal water rights when discussing Arizona water policy.Colorado River Indian Tribes & S.B. 3308/H.R. 5118The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) is one of the 22 federally recognized Tribes within Arizona’s border. Uniquely, CRIT’s reservation straddles the Colorado River, with land in both Arizona and California. The Tribe states that “the…

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 Education’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (“ESAs”). These vouchers originally applied only to students with demonstrated special needs (called IEPs or 504 plans), allowing them to sign ESA contracts to receive an allotted cash amount to be used to attend any private school of their choice. During the past decade, however, lawmakers expanded the ESAs to include students in public schools with “D-” or “F” ratings, students on Native American reservations, and foster care children, among others. On July 7th, 2022, Governor Doug…

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 Arizona public schools. Exemptions arise only upon written parental consent and if the exempted material “possesses serious educational value for minors or possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” If schools do not secure parental consent, they must provide an alternative assignment that does not contain sexually explicit material. The bill was passed along partisan lines, garnering support among all Republicans in the House and Senate and facing opposition from Democrats.The statute’s broad language may hurt children more than it…