Brewer Picks Tucson Republican as New State Supreme Court Justice

Governor Jan Brewer put out a news release this afternoon announcing she’s picked A. John Pelander III to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Supreme Court.

The vacancy was created by the upcoming retirement of Chief Justice Ruth McGregor. As the Arizona Republic notes today, Pelander is a Republican, like Brewer.

We can only assume he’ll be impartial as a judge should be.

See his background from the Arizona Court of Appeals below:

Judge Pelander John Pelander was appointed to Division Two of the Court of Appeals by Governor Symington in 1995.

Judge Pelander received his bachelor of arts degree from Wittenberg University (1973, cum laude), a J.D. degree from the University of Arizona (1976, with high distinction and Order of the Coif), and his Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia in 1998.

Judge Pelander is a former shareholder with Slutes, Sakrison, Grant & Pelander, P.C., where his practice from 1977 to 1995 focused on insurance defense, employment law, commercial litigation, and appeals. Before beginning his law practice, he served as Executive Editor of the Arizona Law Review and as a law clerk to the Hon. Richard H. Chambers of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1976-77.

Before joining the bench, Judge Pelander was a certified specialist in the field of personal injury and wrongful death. He is an associate with the American Board of Trial Advocates and has served as a faculty member of the Arizona College of Trial Advocacy.

Judge Pelander currently serves on the Arizona Commission for Judicial Performance Review and served for several years as chairman of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. From 1998 to date, he has served by designation on the Arizona Supreme Court in the ongoing, comprehensive general stream adjudication.