The outgoing and incoming chief justices for the Arizona Supreme Court said in Yuma that they hope to create a more favorable view of the legal system among the general public.
Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, whose five-year term is coming to an end and incoming Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, who will succeed him, were in Yuma last week as part of visiting superior courts in all 15 Arizona counties to meet with local judges, lawyers and others in the legal profession. They were scheduled to visit La Paz County the following day.
Justice Timmer said one of the thing she is most concerned about is the public's seeming loss of trust in state courts. She said people may believe that the courts have become more politicized in recent years.
"Judges make decisions based on the law, not their own ideologies," Timmer said, adding that in order to gain the public's trust, the court system can invite people to become more familiar with them.
"We need to find a way to present cases in, perhaps, a more entertaining manner," she said. "There's got to be a way we can capture the interest people have in criminal justice and civil justice."
Chief Justice Brutinel added that people who attend court when cases are open to the public, they tend to have a more favorable view of the system.
In December, Arizona Supreme Court Justice John Lopez IV was named as Vice Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Brutinel’s term will expire on June 30. Justices Timmer and Lopez will assume their terms as Chief and Vice Chief on July 1.
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