So you want to be a Judge? The Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Diversity, Equality, and Justice in the Judiciary, through its Diversity Workgroup, has developed this web site to promote judicial diversity in Arizona. It is intended to encourage and assist minority attorneys who are contemplating judicial careers by providing a comprehensive source of information regarding judicial vacancies and the application process. Because our state’s various minority bar organizations play a crucial role in recruiting, encouraging and assisting qualified minority applicants, this site also strives to provide useful information to those organizations while alerting applicants to the potential help they may receive therefrom. In this context, the Commission encourages Arizona’s minority bar associations to borrow ideas from each other, to the extent feasible, in promoting qualified judicial applicants. Finally, this site is intended to augment, not replace, the practical information provided to potential applicants as part of the Chris Nakamura Judicial Appointment Workshops. Along with presenting the Workshop at the Minority Bar Convention (2017 Workshop Materials), the Commission is open to requests to co-host stand-alone presentations.
Ruth V. McGregor, Former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, on Judicial Diversity
Former Arizona Chief Justice Ruth McGregor, one of the first women to serve on that State's high court, looks back on her career and emphasizes the importance of encouraging more diversity on the bench.
Judge Roxanne Song Ong on Diversity on the Bench
Judge Roxanne Song Ong former Chief Presiding Judge of the Phoenix Municipal Court talks about her path from the small grocery store her family owned in the city to the career she has today.
Three Judges' Path to the Bench
Judges Thomas LeClaire, Patricia Orozco and Maurice Portley talk about their path to the bench. Chief Justice Bales’ comments at the 2018 Legal Futures: Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter conference. In the video series Pathways to the Bench, individual federal judges talk about the personal, character-building challenges they have faced that prepared them to serve on the bench.
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