Arizona voters are fortunate that in addition to voting for members of the legislative and executive branches, we also get to vote for some of the members of the judiciary.
Astute political observers in Arizona often advise, wisely, that voters should ignore campaign rhetoric and instead consider past performance.
For voters that pay attention, that advice is relatively easy to follow when dealing with the executive and legislative branches, but not so much when it comes to the judicial branch.
The problem is that most citizens do not have the time or inclination to do the research that would be required to evaluate judges properly. Also, there is a shortage of independent organizations that are willing to take on this task.
We do have a government commission that attempts to shed some light on the subject, the Judicial Performance Review commission (JPR). They do this by establishing judicial performance standards. Unfortunately, they set the bar so low that it is almost impossible for judges to be deemed as not having met the judicial performance standards. For example, this cycle we were able to find only one judge that failed the performance standards, namely Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Hopkins.
Additional information about the JPR commission and their report may be found in the election publicity pamphlet, and online at https://www.azcourts.gov/jpr/Judicial-Performance-Reports
Fortunately, the conservative-leaning Arizona Free Enterprise Club has stepped up to the plate and done the research necessary to offer some recommendations, as follows:
Judicial Retention – Vote to Retain These Judges
| Arizona Supreme Court | |
| Hon. James P. Beane | |
| Hon. William G. Montgomery | |
| Court of Appeals Division I | |
| Hon. Cynthia J. Bailey | |
| Maricopa County Superior Court | |
| Hon. Bradley Astrowsky | |
| Hon. Alison S. Bachus | |
| Hon. Robert I. Brooks | |
| Hon. Rusty D. Crandell | |
| Hon. Jennifer Green | |
| Hon. Michael J. Herrod | |
| Hon. Joseph S. Kiefer | |
| Hon. Susanna C. Pineda | |
| Hon. Michael Z. Rassas | |
| Hon. Tracey Westerhausen | |
| Hon. Cassie Woo | |
| Pima County Superior Court | |
| Hon. Christopher Browning* | |
| Hon. Catherine Woods* |
* added by ADI