Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her opposition to Prop 115 this week, joining with five former state Supreme Court chief justices.
O’Connor served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. Prior to her service on the high court, O’Connor served as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge and then on the state Court of Appeals. She was appointed to the Court of Appeals by former Governor Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, through the merit selection process that is under attack in Prop. 115.
O’Connor informed the No on Prop 115 campaign she would lend her name to the “No” effort in an Arizona Republic ad hitting newsstands Sunday.
“We are proud to see such a respected jurist as Justice O’Connor oppose Prop 115,” said former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor. “Prop 115 would gut the same merit selection process that allowed Justice O’Connor to become the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Prop 115 is a referendum that opponents say would politicize merit selection and give a governor substantial power in placing judges on the superior court in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties as well as on the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.