A public education advocacy group has filed a complaint with the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct against an Arizona Supreme Court justice for comments he made while campaigning this year.
Justice Clint Bolick was appointed to the court by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and is one of two justices facing a retention election this year.
Save Our Schools AZ argues that Bolick violated the Arizona Judicial Code of Conduct, saying he spoke to a Republican group next to a cardboard cutout of former President Donald Trump and pledged to fight for “conservative principles” — as stated in a recent Politico article.
“It’s not impartial and judges really do need to act with impartiality at all times,” Save Our Schools AZ Executive Director Beth Lewis said.
The judicial code of conduct mandates that a judge shall not: “participate in activities that would appear to a reasonable person to undermine the judge’s … impartiality.”
Bolick responded to the complaint against him on Tuesday, stating that he adheres “meticulously to judicial ethics rules” and noting that he never endorses candidates.
“A political organization that is opposed to my retention as an Arizona Supreme Court justice has reportedly filed a judicial ethics complaint against me. My response: Bring it on,” Bolick said in an email.
Bolick also reiterated that he’s a registered independent who was censured by the Maricopa County Republican Party.
Bolick pointed to social media posts from Lewis criticizing him and called the Save Our Schools AZ complaint an act of revenge against him — and therefore an “abuse of process.”
“Judges necessarily enjoy fewer free-speech rights than others. But we have the right to forcefully defend ourselves against an unprecedented campaign to replace judges solely for political reasons,” Bolick said.
Save Our Schools AZ said in a press release that Ducey intentionally politicized the state Supreme Court in 2016 by adding Bolick.
Bolick has spoken at several events hosted by the conservative Federalist Society and previously had a position with the conservative Goldwater Institute.
“Bolick has politicized the courts. It’s also been shown in his decisions, which are directly related to our work at Save Our Schools Arizona,” Lewis said. “His ideologically-based decisions have directly impacted our ability to fund our schools for many years.”
Bolick was co-founder of the Institute for Justice and later served as the first president of the Alliance for School Choice, which promotes private school vouchers - something Save Our Schools AZ strongly opposes.
Bolick co-wrote a book on school choice called “Unshackled: Freeing America’s K-12 Education System.”
Bolick’s background on school choice isn’t the only thing that has rankled public school groups like Save Our Schools AZ.
He was also in the majority of a Supreme Court decision against a voter initiative called Prop 208, which voters passed in 2020. The measure would have raised taxes on wealthy Arizonans to fund public schools, but it was found to be unconstitutional.
Save Our Schools AZ is running a “do not retain” campaign against both Bolick and Justice Kathryn King, who is also up for retention this year.
