On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court will hold its first oral arguments of the new year, so ABC15 wanted to follow up and bring you more of our important conversation with Chief Justice Ann Timmer, who assumed the top role on our state's high court back in July.
It was a wide-ranging conversation, where topics like court-packing accusations, judicial ethics, and personality traits of judges were discussed.
"I've developed my own strategy of not being result-oriented because that's a disaster, ultimately," explains Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Timmer. "It always causes problems down the line in other cases. You have to train yourself with the law and let the law get you to the conclusion."
It's a mantra Chief Justice Timmer says has served her well in her nearly 25 years as a judge.
"The best judges are the ones who can keep an open mind and listen. And not just talk at something — people who listen and are humble enough to realize they don't know everything. And maybe somebody else knows something better than you do in a particular case."
There's something else Chief Justice Timmer says helps guarantee not only a solid judge but also a solid judicial branch, especially here in Arizona.
"I think everyone should be guided by an ethical code and live by it, whether you police yourself or have an outside body...There is a real difference between the state courts and U.S. Supreme Court and that's that we have an ethics code that we have to comply with - and a meaningful ramification if we don't comply. Arizona set up years ago a judicial conduct commission which is separate from the courts and oversees any complaints against judges."
And now, there are more judges to oversee.
In 1912, the year Arizona became a state, there were just three Supreme Court justices. In 1949, there were five. And in 2016, two more justices were added when the legislature passed House Bill 2537, which former Governor Doug Ducey signed into law which allocated a million dollars to have seven total Supreme Court justices.
At the time, critics accused former Governor Ducey of packing the courts, but the Governor said the extra judges were needed to ensure "swift justice" and also mentioned that other states like Colorado and Nevada, with smaller populations than Arizona, already had seven justices.
Chief Justice Timmer explains the decision to add more justices was ultimately the Governor's call and that of the legislature.
"We were asked if we needed help," she explains, stating that at the time, she initially said Arizona's High Court didn't need any more justices. "No, we don't need any help. And in fact, it would slow it down to add two more cooks in the kitchen. Two more people to be part of the process for collective decision-making. We don't need anyone."
But Chief Justice Timmer went on to say she now sees benefits to expanding from five justices to seven.
"We are a state that has grown quite a bit," she says. "And nationally, this is about the right size to have seven justices on the court...In a state this size, I think it's nice to have the opportunity to make it a little more diverse."
As the debate over courts wages on, both at the state level and federally, Chief Justice tells ABC15 that what concerns her the most is the number of everyday people who are unable to be involved in the process.
"If I had a legacy, it would be that I expand the meaningful access to justice in our state."
That goal is part of Chief Justice Timmer's Strategic Agenda, which you can read here.
