Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard 2006 Annual Report

Solicitor General’s Office
Mary O’Grady
Solicitor General
Mission:
The Solicitor General’s
Office is committed to
excellence, fairness and
integrity, and provides
leadership in appeals,
elections, ethics,
independent advice and
legal opinions.
Major efforts included:
• Authority of the Clean
Elections Commission.
Successfully defended the
authority of the Citizens Clean
Elections Commission to remove
a legislator, Rep. David Smith of
Scottsdale, from office for
violating the requirements of the
Clean Elections public campaign
financing program (Smith v.
Clean Elections Commission).
• Mandatory Service as
Arbitrators. Successfully
defended the constitutionality of
the requirement that attorneys
licensed in Arizona serve as
arbitrators. An appeal
concerning various federal
constitutional issues is pending
in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals (Scheele v. Arizona
Supreme Court).
• Laws Governing Petition
Circulators and Independent
Candidates for President.
Successfully defended the State
in a lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of laws requiring
petition circulators to be
residents of Arizona and laws
establishing the filing deadline for
independent candidates for
president. An appeal is pending
(Nader v. Brewer).
• Supporting States in
Lawsuit Against Federal
Government. Filed an amicus
brief in the U.S. Supreme Court
supporting a lawsuit filed by
other states challenging the
constitutionality of the
“clawback” provision in federal
Medicaid legislation (Texas v.
Leavitt).
• Ensuring Quality of the
State’s Appellate Practice.
The Solicitor General’s Office
continued its work preparing,
reviewing and
editing briefs for
state and federal appellate
courts. The Solicitor General’s
Office reviewed more than 331
briefs and coordinated 23 moot
courts in the past fiscal year.
• Enforcing Arizona’s
Campaign Finance Laws,
Lobbyist Reporting
Requirements and Financial
Disclosure Requirements for
Public Officials. The lawyers
in SGO handled 115 matters
referred by the Secretary of State
relating to campaign finance and
election law requirements,
lobbyist reporting and public
official financial disclosure. SGO
attorneys also reviewed and
advised the Clean Elections
Commission regarding 27
enforcement matters and
represented the Commission in
the administrative appeals of its
decisions.
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