In a victory for the Center, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled on November 2, 2021, that Arizona lawmakers violated the state constitution last session when it crammed various items into budget bills even though those provisions had nothing to do with the state budget.
Lawmakers included numerous bans against local governments, public schools and other entities including:
- Prohibiting public schools from instituting mask mandates,
- A vague prohibition on teaching certain “concepts” related to race, ethnicity, or sex,
- A prohibition precluding universities and community colleges from implementing certain COVID mitigation measures,
- The prohibition on other governmental entities from implementing COVID mitigation measures, and
- Various measures within the “budget procedures” bill that cover a wide range of topics (but very little if anything having to do with budget procedures).
The state’s high court upheld a lower court’s ruling that lawmakers violated two key provisions of Arizona’s constitution:
- A requirement that the title of a bill provide fair notice of what the bill contains.
- A requirement that bills must be limited to a single subject.
The court’s ruling allows local school districts, universities, cities, and towns to evaluate the evidence in their communities and decide for themselves how best to keep their students, teachers, and communities safe.
To secure this victory for the people of Arizona, the Center joined forces with the attorneys at Coppersmith Brockelman, led by Roopali Desai. Please consider a donation so we can continue our vital work. The Center is a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the legal rights of Arizonans.
