Albert Einstein famously did NOT say that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."* That quote may now also be attributed to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
The AG's Office quietly acknowledged yesterday that it has appealed a ruling striking down parts of one of the Legislature's Budget Reconciliation Bills. The City of Phoenix brought the lawsuit against the provisions that interfered with the city's new ordinance setting out civilian oversight of the police department.
Superior Court Judge John Hannah decided on November 2 that the "BRB" violated the single subject rule of the Arizona Constitution and constituted "log-rolling".
That was the very same day that the Arizona Supreme Court dealt the Legislature a swift kick in the BRB butt, declaring that other similarly-logrolled bills also were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court made that ruling less than two hours after the AG's Office finished oral argument.
Two indications of Brnovich's reluctance to launch this doomed appeal may be that he waited until the last day to file the Notice of Appeal and that there was no trumpeting tweet or news release - only an out of the way posting of the document.
The City is represented by outside counsel. It might end up seeking reimbursement of its attorneys' fees for this appeal.
By the way, in case you did not click on the link above, the witty definition of insanity can apparently be credited to an anonymous participant in a 12-step program.
* We love the Quote Investigator!
This article was reported by AZ Law founder Paul Weich. Paul is currently running for a seat in Arizona's House of Representatives.
"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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