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Goldwater Institute Recommends Consolidating City Courts Into County Court System

Goldwater Institute and ACLU of Arizona leaders got together to speak about inequality in the city courts.
(Photo by Casey Kuhn - KJZZ)
Goldwater Institute and ACLU of Arizona leaders got together to speak about inequality in the city courts.

“City judges being co-opted by political forces is a long-simmering issue, both in Arizona and nationally.”

That’s from the introduction to a report released this morning by the Goldwater Institute, which also offers recommendations for reforms to the city court system.

Goldwater’s National Investigative Reporter Mark Flatten wrote the report, and he joins me.

The Goldwater Institute and American Civil Liberties Union teamed up Tuesday to discuss a report claiming Arizona’s municipal courts are designed to raise revenue for cities and are flawed. 

The Goldwater report examines how minor infractions at the city court level can lead to major consequences and abusive fining policies.

ACLU of Arizona Director Alessandra Soler says those policies disproportionately affect people of color and the poor.

“The right and the left are coming together around criminal justice reform across the country,” Soler said about teaming up with the Goldwater Institute.

The Goldwater report says municipal judges can feel pressure from the city council, who appoints them, to raise money through enforced fines.

Soler says changing policy could help, which the report suggests to consolidate city courts in the county court, among others. And using something other than fines as punishment for small infractions.

“One of the alternatives is to give people the option of doing community service , enrolling in a substance abuse program, if they got a DUI for example, and then waiving the fines and the fees,” Soler said.

Those fees, the report says, are one of the reasons the state’s city court system impedes due process protections.

The report suggests the municipal court system where judges are appointed and can be fired by city councils is inherently problematic. That’s because courts can be pressured to raise revenue through those fines.

Tim Sandefur, vice president for litigation at the Goldwater Institute, says those small fees like traffic tickets add up.

“And these are the courts that deal with the most common matters that people in their ordinary lives have to go to court for in Arizona," Sandefur said. "Although each individual case may seem small, we’re talking about a systematic problem that needs to be addressed.”

The report suggests reforms like funding municipal courts through the state rather than having them funded by convictions. The cost to do that had not been determined. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct that cities have councils. 

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.