Women have long played an important role on Arizona’s supreme court and beyond

PHOENIX – Arizona women have a pattern of making “history” and breaking glass ceilings in the judicial world.

The most notable of these is former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice to serve on our nation’s Supreme Court. Judge O’Connor previously served as a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals.

In 1965, Arizona Supreme Court Justice Lorna Lockwood not only became the first woman to become Chief Justice of the State 48, but it was also the first time any state in America had a woman in that position.

Arizona Memory Project

I recently sat down with Chief Justice Ann Timmer of the Arizona Supreme Court to discuss the impact and influence women have had in Arizona and beyond, and the obstacles we still face.

It’s a career milestone that Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Timmer could never have imagined for herself.

“Oh no! Are you kidding? No, I never imagined that,” Chief Justice Timmer explains.

This may be because it is still a rare position for women in our state; Since the court was founded in 1912, only five justices have been women. However, although their numbers were small, their impact was huge.

“I’m honored to be in this position. And I’m really happy that we have more than one woman… For about six years it was just me and the men, and while they treated me with great respect – so did I, especially when we went to school… and a little “I never wanted the girl to think that there is no place for women here, that there is no place for women in the judiciary and the law and that she only has one, she conveyed that a little bit.”

Chief Justice Timmer says he would like to see more women serve on the Arizona Supreme Court, but he also says merit should be the number one overall qualification.

“You never want to put someone on the field to fill a particular void… First of all you have to have merit, but beyond that, yes, absolutely. You want a bench that is as diverse as possible. That needs to include women. Why diversity? People decide “If you see that the bench is more reflective of society, they will feel safer.”

Chief Judge Timmer says finding ways to include more female judges will ultimately start with women feeling empowered to fill these coveted positions.

“I think sometimes women feel like, ‘Oh, I’m not ready yet,’ or ‘I need to get all my work in order,’ and they just need encouragement. I know they do.”

Arizona governors appoint justices to the Supreme Court, but they must choose from a predetermined list of candidates put together by a bipartisan commission.

“They can only appoint who gets sent to them. For years, no women applied, or only one woman applied. So I went to women’s groups and said, ‘You need to get out there and apply.'”

Part of this motivation to encourage other women comes from some wise words quoted by another groundbreaking judge, Justice O’Connor.

“He had a pretty strong nature, obviously… He was very ‘taking charge’, so if you saw a problem, you did something about it.”

Chief Justice Timmer specifically recalls a scenario in which Justice O’Connor encouraged her to encourage other women to put their names in the hat to be a part of the Arizona Supreme Court.

“She leaned over and said: ‘Is there a single woman on the Supreme Court? So what are you doing about it?’ I thought about it and thought: ‘What can I do? I can’t appoint, but what I can do is encourage.'”

Provided to KNXV

Lockwood was Arizona’s first female Supreme Court Justice and was appointed in 1961. He would go on to make history again after being elected Chief Justice in 1965; This was the first time this had happened in any US state.

Ruth McGregor will be the next female judge in 1998, followed by Rebecca White Berch in 2002, Chief Justice Timmer in 2012, and Kathryn King in 2021.

All but one of the five female justices served as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.