Scott Bales

W. Scott Bales (born 1956)[2] is the former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court in 2005 by Governor Janet Napolitano through Arizona's merit selection system. He was elected by his fellow justices as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, to replace Rebecca White Berch, effective June 27, 2014.[3] Bales served as Arizona's chief justice until July 31, 2019.[4]

Scott Bales
45th Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
In office June 27, 2014 – July 1, 2019
Preceded by	Rebecca White Berch
Succeeded by	Robert M. Brutinel
Vice Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
In office June 26, 2012 – June 26, 2014
Preceded by	Andrew D. Hurwitz
Succeeded by	John Pelander
Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
In office June 16, 2005 – July 31, 2019
Appointed by	Janet Napolitano
Preceded by	Charles Jones
Succeeded by	Bill Montgomery
Personal details
Born	1956 (age 64–65)
Political party	Democratic[1]
Education	Michigan State University (BA) Harvard University (MA, JD)

Education and clerkships

Following his 1974 graduation from White Pigeon High School, Justice Bales graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Omicron Delta Epsilon with a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University in 1978. He graduated from Harvard University with an Master of Arts in Economics in 1980. Bales earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1983. While at Harvard Law School, he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Harvard Law Review.[5]

Following law school, Bales clerked for the Office of the Solicitor General in 1983. He went on to clerk for Judge Joseph T. Sneed III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[5] From 1984 to 1985 he clerked for Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court.[5]

Legal career

Following his clerkships, Justice Bales was in private practice at the Phoenix law firm of Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn & Maledon from 1985 to 1994. He then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona from 1995 to 1999, including service as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Policy Development from 1998 to 1999. Justice Bales then served as Solicitor General for the State of Arizona from 1999 to 2001. He returned to private practice as a partner at Lewis and Roca from 2001 until his appointment to the Arizona Supreme Court in 2005.[5]

Judicial career and retirement

Bales was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court on June 14, 2005 by Governor Janet Napolitano through Arizona's merit selection system.[6][7] He was retained for a six-year term in 2008 with more than 77 percent of Arizona voters casting ballots in favor of his retention in office.[8] Bales was elected by his fellow justices as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, effective June 26, 2014, replacing Rebecca White Berch.[3] He was once again retained by Arizona voters in 2014, receiving more than 73 percent of the vote.[9] In 2016 Bales asked Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to veto a bill that added two justices to the state supreme court, arguing that the caseload did not justify the additional members.[10] Chief Justice Bales retired from the Arizona Supreme Court on July 31, 2019.[11]

After retiring from the bench Bales served as executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver.[12][13] On Sept. 5-6, 2019, Bales participated in a conference discussion at Duke Law School, along with several other state supreme court chief justices, on "problems stemming from the disproportionate impact of court fees, fines, and bail processes on poor and minority communities."[14] In June 2020 Bales, along with Justice Demo Himonas of the Utah Supreme Court, argued in a Bloomberg Law editorial that states should experiment with new ways to give people access to the civil justice system that do not involve lawyers.[15] Bales resigned his position with IAALS on July 31, 2020.[16]

Bales was elected to the American Law Institute in 2007 and was elected to the ALI Council in 2014.[17] He serves as an Adviser on the Principles of Election Law: Resolution of Election Disputes[18] and was a consultant on the Restatement Third, Employment Law project.[19] Bales is also a member of the Advisory Board for the O'Connor Justice Prize. During the 2020-2021 term Bales is chair of American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.[20]

In 2018 Bales was named by the American Judges Association as the that year's recipient of the Chief Justice Richard W. Holmes Award of Merit, which recognizes “outstanding contributions to the judiciary.”[21] Bales also received the 2018 Ernest C. Friesen Award of Excellence, presented annually by the Justice Management Institute to an individual who has demonstrated vision, leadership, and sustained commitment to the achievement of excellence in the administration of justice.[22]

Notable decisions

In Cheatham v. DiCiccio, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld release time for a member of the police union against a challenge by the Goldwater Institute.[23][24]

In the 2016 case State v. Holle, Bales and Justice Robert M. Brutinel dissented from the majority opinion and argued that under the majority's interpretation of the state's child molestation law, parents could be charged for simple acts like changing a diaper.[25] Fordham University law professor John Pfaff wrote of the majority's decision, "If I owned a daycare center I'd be closing down and moving to another state."[26] Holle was the court's third 3-2 decision during Bales' tenure as chief justice.[27]

Publications

• "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: No Insurmountable Hurdles" , 58 Stan. L. Rev. 1705 (2010).
• "On Teachers and Judges," 47 Arizona L. Rev. 867 (2005).
• "The Ninth Circuit: Should It Stay or Should It Go?," 34 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 379 (2000)
• "Turning the Microscope Back on Forensic Scientists", 26 Litigation 51 (Winter 2000).

References

1. http://archive.azcentral.com/ic/pdf/brewer-judge-appointments.pdf
2. "W. Scott Bales". NNDB. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
3. Alexander, Dawn (18 October 2013). "Bales picked as next Supreme Court chief justice". AZFamily.com. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
4. Polletta, Maria (5 March 2019). "Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales to retire, giving Ducey 5th appointment". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
5. "Scott Bales". Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
6. Fischer, Howard (14 June 2005). "Bales wins Napolitano's state Supreme Court appointment". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
7. Sunnucks, Mike (14 June 2005). "Napolitano picks political ally for high court post". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2014-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/AZ/53314/149239/Web01/en/summary.html
10. "2016 Arizona court expansion not seen as efficiency boost". The Register Citizen. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
11. Polletta, Maria. "Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales to retire, giving Ducey 5th appointment". The Arizona Republic.
12. Ward, Stephanie Francis (9 April 2019). "Top state court judge leaves bench to lead legal services think tank". ABA Journal. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
13. Willis, Zachary (7 March 2019). "IAALS Announces Leadership Transition". Retrieved 24 November 2020.
14. "Conference explores new research on court fees and fines". Duke Law School. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
15. Bales, Scott (29 June 2020). "Insight: It's Time to Allow New Legal Service Providers". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
16. Martinez, Avery (22 July 2020). "IAALS Executive Director Steps Down". Law Week Colorado. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
17. American Law Institute - List of Officers and Council Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
18. Principles of Election Law: Resolution of Election Disputes - List of Participants Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine
19. Restatement Third, Employment Law - List of Participants Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
20. "Council Biographies for the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar: Leadership - 2020-2021 Council". American Bar Association. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
21. "Award Recipients" (PDF). American Judges Association. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
22. "Recipients of the Ernest C. Friesen Award of Excellence". The Justice Management Institute. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
23. http://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Supreme/2016/CV150287PR.pdf
24. Gardiner, Dustin (13 September 2016). "Arizona court ruling OKs 'release time' for public employees' union work". AZCentral.com. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
25. Fischer, Howard (20 September 2016). "Justice worries innocent parents could be charged for changing child's diaper". Arizona Capitol Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
26. Journal, A. B. A. "Arizona Supreme Court decision on intent makes child diapering a potential crime, dissent argues". ABA Journal.
27. "Search Opinions". www.azcourts.gov.