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Scott Bales
W. Scott Bales was a justice on the Arizona Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court in 2005 by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano.[1] Bales retired on July 31, 2019.[2] Click here for more information on his retirement and the process for filling vacancies on the Arizona Supreme Court.
Bales was elected by his peers as chief justice of the court for a term that began on July 1, 2014, and ended on June 30, 2019. He succeeded Justice Rebecca White Berch as chief.[3] Bales was succeeded by Justice Robert Brutinel.[4]
Education
Bales earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, graduating summa cum laude in 1978. He earned a master's degree in economics from Harvard University in 1980 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1983.[1]
Career
- 2005-2019: Justice, Arizona Supreme Court
- 2014-2019: Chief justice
- 2001-2005: Attorney, Lewis and Roca LLP
- 1999-2001: Solicitor general, Arizona
- 1995-1999: Assistant U.S. Attorney, Arizona
- 1993, 1998-1999: Judge pro tempore, Arizona Court of Appeals
- 1988, 1989-1991, 1993, 2001, 2007-2010: Adjunct professor of law, University of Arizona
- 1985-1994: Attorney, Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn & Maledon
- 1984-1985: Law clerk, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
- 1983-1984: Law clerk, Justice Joseph Sneed
- 1979-1983: Teaching fellow, Harvard University[1]
Awards and associations
Awards
- 2005: Foundation for Justice Award, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
- 2001: Director's Award, Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice
- 2000: Team AG Award
- 1998: Distinguished Service Award, U.S. Attorney General
- 1997: Award of Merit, Inspector General
- 1980-1981: Allyn Young Prize[1]
Associations
- 2010 - Present: Leadership Council, American Inns of Court Foundation
- 2008 - Present: Executive Committee, Appellate Judicial Conference, ABA Judicial Division
- 2014-2015: Committee Chair
- 2007 - Present: Member, American Law Institute
- 2014 - Present: Council, American Law Institute
- 2006-2010: Board of Trustees, American Inns of Court Foundation
- 2004-2005: Chair, Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
- 2004-2005: Chair, State Bar of Arizona, Appellate Practice Section
- 2004-2005: Board of Directors, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
- 2003-2004: Chair, District of Arizona, U.S. Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Committee
- 2003-2006: Executive Council, State Bar of Arizona, Appellate Practice Section
- 2002-2005: Arizona Lawyer Representative, Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
- 2002-2004: Member, State Bar of Arizona, Task Force on Access to Justice
- 2001-2005: Member, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Advisory Committee on Rules of Practice
- 1996-1998: Member, State Bar of Arizona, Civil Practice and Procedure Committee
- 1995: Member, State Bar of Arizona, Criminal Rules Committee
- 1993: Volunteer Bar Counsel, Arizona State Bar Disciplinary Proceedings
- 1991: Member, Arizona State Senate Ethics Committee, Special Investigative Counsel[1]
Elections
2014
- See also: Arizona judicial elections, 2014
Bales was retained to the Arizona Supreme Court with 73.6 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014.[5]
Evaluation
The Judicial Performance Review Commission provides Arizona voters with an evaluation of each judge up for retention. The commission votes on whether a candidate meets or does not meet the JPR standards. Each judge is assessed on their legal ability, integrity, communication skills, judicial temperament and administrative performance.[6]
The commission voted that Bales met the JPR standards. The vote was 29-0 in favor of retention.[5]
2008
| Arizona Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2008 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
For retention 
|
1,174,085 | 77.1% | ||
| Against retention | 349,698 | 22.9% | ||
- Click here (scroll to page 13) for 2008 General Election Results from the Arizona Secretary of State.
Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance
The 2008 Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance unanimously voted that Bales met judicial performance standards. The JPR Commission simply votes on whether judge meets or does not meet performance standards, based on statistical information and information gathered from the public. The survey is also filled out by those presiding judges, attorneys and superior court justices who rate the judge based on five ranges, from poor to superior. The percentages shown below indicate what percent of the survey respondents selected superior, very good or satisfactory.[7]
| Summary categories | Attorneys | Superior Court Judges |
|---|---|---|
| Legal Ability | 100% | 100% |
| Integrity | 100% | 100% |
| Communication Skills | 99% | - |
| Judicial Temperament | 100% | - |
| Administrative Performance | 100% | 100% |
| Administrative Skills | - | - |
Noteworthy cases
Arizona Supreme Court overturns child molestation conviction (2014)
Robert Glissendorf appealed his conviction on the ground that the state had a duty to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence and did not do so. The evidence was an audio tape of an interview Tucson police conducted with the victim. Chief Justice Scott Bales wrote the unanimous opinion, stating that the trial court was wrong when it refused to allow the jury to be told potentially exonerating evidence was destroyed by police.
Articles:
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Bales received a campaign finance score of -0.93, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.1 that justices received in Arizona.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Arizona Justice Scott Bales. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Arizona Courts, "Chief Justice W. Scott Bales," accessed September 24, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Supreme Court, "Chief Justice Scott Bales Announces Retirement," March 5, 2019
- ↑ SF Gate, "Bales picked as next Supreme Court chief justice," October 18, 2013
- ↑ AZ Central, "Arizona Supreme Court selects Robert Brutinel as next chief justice," November 20, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arizona Judicial Performance Review, "Judicial Report: 2014," accessed October 2, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Courts: Judicial Performance Review, "Judicial Performance Standards," accessed September 30, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance, "Judge Bales," accessed September 24, 2014
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Arizona • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Arizona
State courts:
Arizona Supreme Court • Arizona Court of Appeals • Arizona Superior Court • Arizona Justice Courts • Arizona Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Arizona • Arizona judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arizona
