Experienced elections law attorney Lisa Hauser (pictured) isn't the only applicant to face rejection for an appointment to the Arizona Supreme Court. Seventeen people applied for the vacancy on the high court to be left by outgoing Chief Justice Ruth McGregor, so Hauser had plenty of competition.
But Hauser's application received special attention -- negative attention -- because it was riddled with typos. (See the sample below).
According to the Arizona Capitol Times' Yellow Sheet Report, local hot-shot attorney Grady Gammage Jr. spoke to a selection panel in favor of Hauser, who appears well qualified for the job. "The recommendation was all but ignored..." the Yellow Sheet says.
At the June 3 public meeting of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, Pinal County Democrat Commissioner Charlie Wallace said Hauser should have shown "enough respect for yourself, the position and the commission" than to turn in a sloppy application, the Yellow Sheet says. Pinal County Republican Robert Gallo stated he was "shocked" at the application and said he counted more than 40 typos in it.
Looking at her application, (all of the applications are posted on the local NPR Web site), it seems like more of a printer problem than a typing problem. Letters are mushed together, periods are missing and spaces are left out. Hauser must have decided the mistakes weren't egregious enough to worry about and submitted the ap, hoping the substance would show through the poor style. Hauser didn't return our phone call from yesterday.
Hauser turned in a corrected version of her ap, but it apparently made no difference to the committee.
It's a lesson for us all: Sometimes life offers no second chances, so you'd better get it right the first time.
