Arizona’s Governor appoints first Latina and Black Justice to the State Supreme Court

Phoenix (AP) – Democratic Government Conference Katie Hobbs appointed Maria Elena Cruz as Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday, making the state appeal judge from the Rural Yuma County the first Latina and the first black person elected to the State Supreme Court.

Hobbs’ choice of Cruz marks the first Supreme Court’s appointment of a democratic governor since 2005. It also expands the racial, geographical and political diversity of seven-member, Republican-dominated court.

“I prioritized an appointment that is not only very qualified but also a person who reflects our state and who is obliged to get our legal system to work for everyday people,” Hobbs said during a news conference to advertise his choice . “Of course, I was focused on credentials and experience, but also on identifying a justice that will lift those who need it most.”

Since the creation of Arizona Supreme Court in 1912, none of the 49 earlier or present Justices has identified as black. Only one – Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice John Lopez – Has been Latino. Cruz, a Democrat, becomes the second person in Spanish -speaking and first person of African descent to president on the bench.

Former GOP -GuNors Ducey and Jan Brewer were responsible for choosing the other six justice, all of which live in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, which includes Phoenix.

Cruz said a court that does not reflect the state’s population, not “creates confidence.”

“As a new righteousness, I promise to bring not only my 20 years of legal experience, including service on the Cocopah Tribal Court, Superior Court and the Appeals Court and a deep respect and loyalty to the rule of law, but also a perspective that is informed about growing up, living, living, Educate a family and work in rural Arizona, ”Cruz said.

31 October Retirement of justice Robert Brutinel Hobbs presented the rare opportunity to fill the court’s vacancy with a selection of her own. The judges have in recent years made a decision on several Hot-Button questions, including abortion and Choiceleading to accusations of political bias.

Under the Arizona Act, the Commission for Appeal Recrosure Appointments is obliged to give the governor no less than three names to choose from. On December 9, the 16 Membership Commission interviewed eight applicants. It ultimately sent a list of five names to Hobbs that had 60 days to make her decision.

Born in New York for a Puerto Rican father and a Dominican mother, Cruz was 14 years old when she and her family moved to Yuma County, the southwest corner of Arizona, where the state meets California and Mexico.

She was a student at Arizona Western College and an elementary school teacher when she was involved in a car accident that changed the course of her life. After securing legal representation, she was in sitting against a lawyer and discussing her case. That’s when she had an epiphany.

“Here’s someone who makes something really meaningful, someone who affects people’s lives with the work he performs,” cruz Once told an interviewerthat reflects on her thinking in that moment.

She asked about his way into the legal profession. When he talked about the importance of the Law School and the demand to pass the bar, she said she was determined to be a lawyer.

Later that day, she told her employer that she retired to pursue a legal degree.

Cruz won a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Arizona in 1998 and her legal degree from the university in 2001. She was a law firm of Pima County Attorney’s Office, a prosecutor of Yuma County Attorney’s Office and a criminal defense lawyer in lawyer private practice.

She became a referee-pro-temp for Cocopah Indian Tribe in 2005. Between 2009 and 2017, she served as judge for Yuma County Superior Court.

Since 2017, Cruz has served as a judge on Arizona Court of Appeals. She was appointed by Ducey and was the Republican Governor’s first selection of a Democrat to function by a state’s appeal.

Cruz’s family was behind her during Wednesday morning’s announcement. Her husband, Glen Avino, said they got the news at the last second. Her father traveled from Mexico City overnight and her in -laws drove overnight from Las Vegas to support her.

Cruz’s 24-year-old son, Diego Avino, said he is extremely proud of his mother, not only for her appointment to the state’s highest court, but for her “almost-unwilling work ethics” that got her the place.

“It’s something that just comes from a small town goes to Phoenix and gets up to this place,” he said. “It requires a real dedication.”

Cruz gets sworn in Monday, officials said.

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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member of Associated Press/Report for the America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit National Service program that places journalists in local news rooms to report on undercovered questions.

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