Justice faces ethics complaint over pledge to ‘fight for conservative principles’
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A complaint submitted to the state’s judicial conduct commission alleges Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick violated judicial ethics for vowing to continue “fighting for conservative principles” at a Republican club meeting.
In a formal complaint to the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, Save Our Schools Arizona, a public education advocacy group, cited an article from Politico in which Bolick is quoted as saying he and Justice Kathryn King “check our politics at the door” but said he would continue “fighting for conservative principles.”
The group claimed the statements violated “several provisions” of the judicial ethics canon.
“The judicial codes of conduct clearly state that judges should aspire at all times to conduct that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in their independence and impartiality,” Beth Lewis, director of Save Our Schools, said. “I think that both independence and impartiality are in question.”
A committee working to retain Bolick and King dismissed the complaint as merely last-ditch campaign fodder.
Daniel Scarpinato, spokesperson for Judicial Independence PAC, said it was a “frivolous complaint to try to create more political acrimony in advance of the election.”