PHOENIX (AP) — PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs appointed Maria Elena Cruz to the Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday, making the state appellate judge from rural Yuma County the first Latina and first Black person chosen for the state’s high court.
Hobbs’ selection of Cruz marks the first Supreme Court appointment by a Democratic governor since 2005. It also broadens the racial, geographic and political diversity of the seven-member, Republican-dominated court.
“I prioritized an appointee who is not only eminently qualified but also someone who reflects our state and who is committed to making our legal system work for everyday people,” Hobbs said during a news conference to announce her choice. “Of course, I was focused on credentials and experience but also on appointing a justice who will uplift those who need it most.”
Since the establishment of the Arizona Supreme Court in 1912, none of the 49 past or present justices have identified as Black. Only one – Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice John Lopez – has been Latino. Cruz, a 52-year-old Democrat, will become the second person of Hispanic heritage and first person of African descent to preside on the bench.
Previous GOP governors Doug Ducey and Jan Brewer were responsible for selecting the other six justices, who all reside in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county that includes Phoenix.
Cruz said a court that does not reflect the state's population does not “engender trust.”
“As a new justice, I promise to bring not only my 20 years of judicial experience, including service on the Cocopah Tribal Court, the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals, and a deep respect and loyalty for the rule of law, but also a perspective that is informed by growing up, living, raising a family and working in rural Arizona," Cruz said.
The Oct. 31 retirement of Justice Robert Brutinel presented Hobbs the rare opportunity to fill the court's vacancy with a selection of her own. The justices have ruled in recent years on cases concerning several hot-button issues, including abortion and elections, leading to accusations of political bias.
Under Arizona law, the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments is required to provide the governor no fewer than three names to pick from. On Dec. 9, the 16-member commission interviewed eight applicants. It ultimately sent a list of five names to Hobbs, who had 60 days to make her decision.
Born in New York to a Puerto Rican father and a Dominican mother, Cruz was 14 when she and her family relocated to Yuma County, the southwestern corner of Arizona where the state meets California and Mexico.
She was a student at Arizona Western College and an elementary school teacher when she was involved in a car accident that changed her life's trajectory. After securing legal representation, she found herself sitting across from a lawyer and discussing her case. It was then she had an epiphany.
“Here is someone who is doing something really meaningful, someone who affects people's lives with the work that he does,” Cruz once told an interviewer, reflecting on her thinking in that moment.
She inquired about his path into the legal profession. When he spoke of the importance of law school and the requirement to pass the bar exam, she said she was determined to be a lawyer.
Later that day, she told her employer she was resigning to pursue a law degree.
Cruz earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Arizona in 1998 and her law degree from the university in 2001. She was a law clerk for the Pima County Attorney's Office, a prosecutor for the Yuma County Attorney's Office and a criminal defense attorney in private practice.
She became a judge pro tem for the Cocopah Indian Tribe in 2005. Between 2009 and 2017, she served as a judge for Yuma County Superior Court.
Since 2017, Cruz has served as a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals. Appointed by Ducey, she was the Republican governor's first selection of a Democrat to serve on a state appellate court.
Cruz’s family stood behind her during Wednesday morning's announcement. Her husband, Glen Avino, said they got the news at the last second. Her father traveled from Mexico City overnight and her in-laws drove overnight from Las Vegas to support her.
Cruz’s 24-year-old son, Diego Avino, said he is extremely proud of his mother, not only for her appointment to the state’s highest court, but for her “near-insane work ethic” that earned her the spot.
“It’s something just coming from a small town, going to Phoenix and rising up to this spot,” he said. “It takes some real dedication.”
Cruz will be sworn in on Monday, officials said.
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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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