The state’s top Republican lawmakers can’t avoid having to answer questions about their backing of legislation making it more difficult to register to vote.

Without comment, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a claim by House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen that any inquiries into the background of how 2022 legislation became law runs afoul of legislative privilege. The justices did not explain their decision.

But it is in line with prior rulings by the trial judge who is hearing the claim that the two laws being challenged by several voting and civil rights groups as well as the U.S. Department of Justice.

They contend the laws were enacted with “discriminatory intent.” And they sought to question the pair to buttress their arguments.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton said that makes the questions Petersen and Toma don’t want to answer relevant.

“The information sought in discovery does in fact ‘go to the heart’ of plaintiffs claim and the constitutionality of the voting laws,” she wrote in her order compelling them to comply, the order that the Supreme Court on Monday refused to disturb. “Motive is often most easily discovered by examining the unguarded acts and statements of those who would otherwise attempt to conceal evidence of discriminatory intent.”

“I will comply,” Petersen of Gilbert told Capitol Media Services.

There was no comment from Toma of Peoria.

At the heart of the case are two separate measures approved by the Republican controlled legislature.

One sought to limit who can vote for president.

Bolton already ruled that provision is illegal, saying state laws requiring proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in the presidential race are trumped by the National Voter Registration Act. But she has yet to rule on several issues that remain.

One would require county recorders to forward to the attorney general the names of people who are suspected of trying to register without being citizens. Challengers say that referral can be based solely on the inability of the recorder to locate these names in certain specific databases. And they say the use of these databases “amount to intentional race, national origin, and alienage discrimination.”

Also yet to be decided is the legality of a new requirement for people to provide documentary proof of residency, above and beyond what already was necessary.

Lawyers for the challengers laid out a series of issues they want to discuss with Petersen and Toma ahead of the upcoming trial.

One is any instances the Legislature has identified, was aware of, or was provided evidence of someone who is not a U.S. citizen having registered to vote “which supported the introduction, passage, and/or enactment of the challenged laws.” Ditto about any non-U.S. citizen actually having voted.

They also want to know whether lawmakers considered if the laws would impact certain groups of voters more than others, including racial or ethnic groups, naturalized citizens, disabled voters, or voters in any particular age group.

Also sought are any communications between members of the Legislature with outside groups, including the Free Enterprise Club, which backed the restrictions, regarding the purpose or potential effects of the laws.

They also want to know “the objectives motivating the Arizona Legislature’s introduction, passage and enactment of the challenged laws, as well as any state interest believed to be advanced by the challenged laws.”

What makes all that critical is that the success or failure of constitutional challenges to voting and similar laws often can turn on whether they were enacted “with discriminatory intent.” And in this case, the groups seeking to void the laws — including the U.S. Department of Justice — contend what was behind the changes “amount to intentional race discrimination in voting.”

None of this would have become an issue and reached the Supreme Court had Petersen and Toma stayed out of the case. In fact, neither were defendants as the challenged laws were being defended by Mark Brnovich. He was the Republican attorney general when the lawsuit was filed.

But Democrat Kris Mayes, who took office in January, said she was not interested in defending some aspects of the law. So, the two GOP leaders got permission from Bolton to intervene and become defendants.

That new status, however, provided the legal basis for challengers to ask them to answer certain questions. And Bolton, in her initial ruling, said what they seek to discover is relevant.

Attorneys for the pair said in their legal filings they already have produced more than 90,000 pages of documents and answers to written questions. But they refused to provide some other documents — the petition to the Supreme Court does not say how many — and declined to answer other questions arguing all that infringed on legislative privilege.

But the lawyers for the GOP lawmakers, in seeking high court relief, gave a hint of what they don’t want to disclose. They said that leaving Bolton’s decision undisturbed could result in challengers questioning “not only their participation in the legislative process, but also private conversations with other legislators or third parties about the voting laws.”

Bolton, in rejecting the bids by Petersen and Toma to avoid being questioned, said there was a simple way for the pair to avoid being questioned. She said they could simply have stayed out of the case.

Instead, she said, they made the voluntary decision to intervene, even though the law already is still being defended, at least in part, by the Attorney General’s Office. And in doing so, Bolton said, they made themselves active participants in the litigation.

Not true, attorneys for the GOP leaders are telling the appellate judges. And, if nothing else, they said what challengers want is shielded by “legislative privilege.”

In its broadest sense, it protects lawmakers from being sued over statements they make during debate. But it also has sometimes been applied to shield them from having to discuss their deliberative process or motives.

The post Court rejects Toma and Petersen’s claims of legislative privilege tied to how past legislation became law first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Kennedy and her husband are being sued by the federal government for nearly $200,000 in unpaid taxes relating to a Denny’s restaurant they used to own in Glendale, KJZZ reported this morning (Oct. 31).

To read more on this item plus all the stories in the October 31 Yellow Sheet Report, go towww.yellowsheetreport.com (Yellow Sheet Subscription Required).

To subscribe to the Yellow Sheet Report, where you’ll find the inside scoop on the Capitol, state government agencies and more, click here.

The post Report: Gov’t. suing Kennedy for $200k in back taxes first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Both sides are now appealing a federal judge’s ruling that Maricopa County’s prosecution of people who arrange to be smuggled conflicts with federal law.

The County Attorney’s Office a week ago said it is appealing the ruling on the state’s human smuggling law, and now the pro-immigrant groups and individuals who’d sued the county over the issue also say they’re appealing.

The plaintiffs’ filing says they’re appealing because the ruling didn’t overturn previous convictions of people who arranged to be smuggled.

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The post Plaintiffs appealing Arizona ruling on smuggling law first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Lawyers for Sheriff Joe Arpaio will appeal a judge’s October order that a court-appointed monitor oversee the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, among other things.

A federal judge in Phoenix ruled in May that the sheriff’s office and Arpaio singled out Latinos and that deputies unreasonably prolonged detentions.

In October, the judge ordered the appointment of an independent monitor and a community advisory board to ensure compliance with constitutional requirements.

Arpaio’s lawyers in a motion filed this week say they will appeal the order.

The May ruling came after a small group of Latinos sued the sheriff’s office for violating their constitutional rights, saying they were being detained simply because of their race.

Arpaio’s office had opposed the appointment of a monitor, arguing it would undermine his authority.

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The post Arpaio to appeal order appointing monitor first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

A lieutenant with the Arizona Department of Corrections alleges in a federal lawsuit three criminal investigators with the agency framed him in retaliation for his union activities.

Lt. Michael Perron, a 14-year corrections officer, claims in the lawsuit filed April 8 that the ordeal landed him in Maricopa County Jail for three days, segregated with sex offenders and at times within striking distance of the general population. A law enforcement officer behind bars is typically considered prey for violence by inmates.

Perron’s attorney, Martin Bihn, said that even though the investigators are the named parties, the state would have to pay any settlement or damages if Perron wins at trial.

And while the complaint zeros in on the actions of the investigators, it contains allegations that DOC management pressured them to bring a case against Perron, a member of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, as a way of playing favorites with another union.

“The allegations in the lawsuit are meritless and ADC will contest the claims in court,” said DOC spokesman Bill Lamoreaux.

The state struck back legally, asking the court to dismiss the case on the basis that a grand jury found probable cause to indict Perron, which eliminates grounds for a constitutional violation, and the investigator who testified against Perron in front of a grand jury has immunity from being sued for statements on the witness stand.

A grand jury indicted Perron Nov. 29, 2011, on 20 counts of forgery in connection with falsifying payroll deduction forms. Judge Joseph Kreamer granted the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office request to dismiss the case on April 20, 2012, after many of the victims recanted, leaving the state without a case.

According to a grand jury transcript, the state alleged Perron filled out paperwork for deductions to be taken from paychecks of corrections officers for union dues, but none of them wanted to belong to the union or have money deducted. The alleged victims in the case also confirmed the signatures on the forms didn’t belong to them.

DOC Director Charles Ryan wrote in a letter to Bihn that the investigators had a solid case if not for the un-cooperative victims.

“. . . some advised that they would not have initiated complaints had they known it was Lt. Perron who had completed their payroll deduction forms,” Ryan wrote.

Otherwise, Perron was identified through a Department of Public Safety handwriting analyst as being the one who forged the documents, and he had access to employee information that he used in filling out the forms, Ryan said.

Bihn said the trouble began when the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association 9AZCPOA0 split from its parent organization, the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs, requiring  AZCPOA members to fill out new paperwork for payroll deductions. AZCPOA had to get 1,000 members to qualify for payroll deductions.

As a member of the union’s executive board, Perron had access to employee identification numbers of members at the prison where he worked.

Bihn said Perron printed the names and identification numbers on forms for each member in his work site and passed them out, but did not collect them or turn them into the Department of Administration or DOC.

It took four months before for the Department of Administration began deducting the dues. Four members of the Fraternal Order of Police complained that Perron’s union was taking out dues without their authorization.

Bihn said the investigation dug up more questionable paperwork, but investigators found that he didn’t illegally access the employee information from his DOC computer. A Department of Public Safety analysis of the forged signatures couldn’t identify or eliminate Perron as the one who had signed.

Bihn said there was no motive for Perron to forge anyone’s signature, but the state’s theory was that the union would have benefitted from having more members.

The post Corrections officer sues state, claims he was framed for union activities first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.