NEW: AZ Attorney General Brnovich Dips Toe In Post-Election Disputes, Pushes Validity of Legislative Subpoenas For Ballot Envelopes, Etc; Status Conference On Monday Morning (READ: Pleadings)

 At Arizona's Law, we strive to dig deeper into Arizona-related court cases and find the most news-worthy items which could be missed. So, my hat is off to the dean of Arizona political news coverage, Howie Fischer, for exposing the Response filed last week by the state's Department of Revenue in the suit challenging the constitutionality of the Invest In Ed proposition passed by Arizona voters last month.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that article led to Governor Doug Ducey promptly firing DOR Director Carlton Woodruff. He stated that agency directors should not be getting into policy issues such as the case currently awaiting a decision by Superior Court Judge John Hannah. 

Woodruff is defending the Response filed, noting in the Arizona Republic today that it was only intended to inform the court that the Director was a "nominal defendant". In fact, by stipulation of the parties, he was dismissed from the case last week before oral argument.

Here - with a thanks and hat tip to Fischer - is the full Response filed by DOR's outside counsel, Brian Bergin. As you can see, the primary reason for urging denial of the preliminary injunction is that the surcharge on high earners' income would not be due until April 15, 2022. However, the Response then does go into further arguments against the injunction.

"AZ Law" includes articles, commentaries and updates about opinions from the Arizona Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts, etc. AZ Law is founded by Phoenix attorney Paul Weich, and joins Arizona's Politics on the internet. 

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