By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic
Opinion: Did Gov. Doug Ducey get the inside scoop on the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to toss Invest in Ed off the ballot? If not, why bother with an inquiry? (Editor’s note:Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
The Arizona Supreme Court has launched an informal inquiry into whether somebody leaked details about the controversial vote that landed Invest in Ed in the trash heap.
Put another way, the justices want to know whether Gov. Doug Ducey has a pipeline into the inner workings of the court, which includes three of his appointees thanks to 2016 legislation allowing him to expand the court from five to seven.
Court spokesman Jerry Landau says he has no idea whether the vote to throw Invest in Ed off the ballot was really 5-2, as the governor’s campaign told 12 News reporter Brahm Resnik the morning after the ruling.
But Landau confirmed that the court is asking questions as a result of stories speculating that people outside the court got inside information on the still-confidential breakdown of the vote.
“We certainly are concerned when there is a statement made that this was the vote (5-2) and these are the people that voted no,” he told me. “We are concerned about that so you do what you can to check it out.”
