Victim backs bill to criminalize child ‘grooming’; opponents say it oversteps

PHOENIX - A 16-year-old who said she was groomed by her softball coach came to testify, with her parents, for a bill that would make a crime of child grooming. But opponents told the packed hearing that there are already laws on the books and the bill goes too far.


Supreme Court considers right to face accusers in Yuma drug case

WASHNGTON - Supreme Court justices grappled Wednesday to decide when testimony from an expert crosses the line into evidence that a defendant should have the right to challenge in court, a question that arose in a Yuma County drug case from 2019.


Tributes pour in on death of Arizona icon, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

WASHINGTON - Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who rose from a girlhood on an eastern Arizona ranch to becoming the first female Supreme Court justice, died Friday at age 93.


Supreme Court won’t protect legislative leaders in election law challenge

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from Republican legislative leaders who argued they cannot be forced to answer questions from voting rights groups challenging the 2022 passage of two Arizona election laws.


Supreme Court agrees to hear San Carlos Apache appeal on health care funding

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a claim by the San Carlos Apache tribe that the federal government is shortchanging it on funds it needs to operate tribal health services.


Supreme Court to hear appeal over expert testimony in Yuma drug case

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will hear the appeal of an Arizona man who said his right to confront his accuser was violated when the expert witness who tested the drugs in his case was replaced by another expert.


$10 a day for 10,636 days: Backers raise funds for man freed from death row

WASHINGTON - Barry Jones walked out of prison on June 15, after 28 years behind bars on death row for a crime the state now says he did not commit. Supporters are trying to raise private donations to help him get his life back on track, after 10,636 days behind bars.


Inmate can press claim that phone limits hurt right to stay in his kids’ lives

WASHINGTON - An inmate who claimed that the federal prison system's 300-minute-a-month limit on phone calls infringed on his ability to be involved in his children's lives should get a chance to present his case, an appeals court ruled.


Court says Title IX covers sexual orientation, reinstates suit against UArizona

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Title IX protections prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex also protect against harassment on the basis of a person's perceived sexual orientation.


Mayes: Ruling dropping preventive drugs from insurance would be devastating

WASHINGTON - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes vowed Thursday to "fight like heck" against a federal court ruling that could overturn a mandate that health insurers provide HIV-preventive medication without charge.


Supreme Court pooh-poohs Arizona firm’s parody defense in trademark case

WASHINGTON - A Scottsdale company that makes doggy chew toys spoofing Jack Daniel's and other brands is not protected from trademark infringement suits by its claim that it was merely parodying, not appropriating, those brands, the Supreme Court ruled.


‘Deeply repentant’ Vallejo gets 3 years for his role in Jan. 6 attack

WASHINGTON - An apparently contrite Edward Vallejo was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison and three years of supervised release, a fraction of the sentence prosecutors sought for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.