Hobbs picks Maria Elena Cruz as 1st Latina, Black justice on Arizona Supreme Court

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs appointed Judge Maria Elena Cruz to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Supreme Court, which will make her the first Latina and person of African descent to serve on the high court.

Cruz, who has lived in Yuma for three decades, served as presiding judge of the Yuma County Superior Court before former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey appointed her to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2017. She was also a judge for the Cocopah Tribal Court from 2005 to 2008 after working as a local prosecutor and defense attorney.

Hobbs appeared alongside Arizona’s current Supreme Court justices to make the announcement. She said Cruz, also a Democrat, has the credentials to serve on the high court, citing her previous judgeships as well as her work establishing Yuma’s restitution court and volunteering on the county’s drug court.

“I prioritize an appointee who is not only eminently qualified, but also someone who reflects our state and who's committed to making our legal system work for everyday people,” Hobbs said.

Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, a Republican, agreed.

“We've overseen her work through the years and seen that she has the academic heft and analytical ability to do that job,” Timmer said.

Cruz is Hobbs’ first appointment to the high court and will be the only Democrat on the seven-judge panel.

The governor noted that Cruz was appointed to her last post by a Republican and received bipartisan support from officials throughout the state, including from the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, Yuma Mayor Doug Nichols, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego.

“I believe I have bipartisan support because people in my community have seen the work that I have done,” Cruz said. “I have approached my time in the law with a heart for service.”

Both Hobbs and Cruz also said Cruz will bring much needed diversity to the court.

Cruz, whose mother was born in the Dominican Republic, said she spoke no English when she moved to Arizona from Puerto Rico at the age of 14, when her father was relocated to the state for his job in federal law enforcement.

She said her background is an asset.

And, at a time when the Trump administration and local Republican lawmakers are attacking programs to increase diversity in government, Cruz did not shy away from her view that the judiciary should better reflect Arizona’s population.

“Why should the courts not reflect the population?” Cruz asked, noting that she will be just the sixth woman to serve on the Supreme Court out of the 49 justices who have sat on the bench in the past 113 years.

Cruz said that having a court that better reflects the state’s population will increase trust in the judiciary.

“The courts are an expression of people's self-governance, right?” she said. “And if we are self-governing, then the court should be the self.”

Hobbs emphasized that diversifying the court and appointing qualified judges are not mutually exclusive goals.

“I looked at qualifications and I looked at who will best serve on the court to represent the entire state of Arizona, and now our court looks more like Arizona,” she said.

Timmer, the Republican chief justice, also said Cruz will bring valuable insight to the Supreme Court as the only justice residing outside of Maricopa County. That perspective is needed, she said, as the court develops rules attorneys across the state and oversees Arizona’s lower courts.

“And people say, ‘well, we need the rural perspective,’’ Timmer said. “There is no rural perspective on what the law is. However, there is a tremendous need for rural perspective on the regulatory aspects of the Court.”

Cruz will be sworn in as the state’s next Supreme Court justice on Monday.