Law Journal hosts discussion on Ariz. Supreme Court for statehood day

The Arizona State Law Journal at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law will host “The Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Constitution: The First Hundred Years,” a discussion about the role the court has played during Arizona’s first century as a state.

The event will be from noon to 1:30 p.m., Feb. 14, Arizona’s statehood day, in the Jury Assembly Room of the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse on 401 W. Washington St. in downtown Phoenix. It is open to the public, and Continuing Legal Education credits will be available to attorneys.

Panel members will discuss the meaning and effect of Arizona constitutional provisions that have helped define the character of our state, and distinguished our constitution from the United States constitution. The panel will be moderated Paul Bender, by College of Law professor and dean emeritus.

“We hope to give the public an opportunity to listen to reflections on Arizona’s unique constitution from knowledgeable and important figures in our legal community,” said Kaitlyn Redfield-Ortiz, the Arizona issue editor at the Arizona State Law Journal and an organizer of the event.

Speakers include Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch, Paul Eckstein, a partner at Perkins Coie, Timothy Hogan, executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, Lisa Hauser, a partner at Gammage & Burnham, attorney David Abney of Knapp & Roberts, and Clint Bolick, director of the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation at The Goldwater Institute. The discussion will be published later this spring in a special issue of the Arizona State Law Journal, Redfield-Ortiz said.

“The conference will bring those authors together to exchange their ideas about how well and effectively the Court has interpreted the Arizona Constitution over the first 100 years of Arizona statehood,” Bender said. “It should be an interesting and informative discussion.”

Tickets to the event are $60 for members of the Bar (CLE), $40 for the general public and $25 for students, and proceeds will benefit the Journal. They are available here. Attendees should RSVP by Feb. 9.

For more information, contact Redfield-Ortiz at kaitlyn.redfield@gmail.com or call (480) 206-5290.