Attorney General Mark Brnovich Files Brief to Support Victims’ Rights at U.S. Supreme Court

PHOENIX -- Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that his office (AGO) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) seeking review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in a continued effort to protect victims’ rights and state sovereignty.

In 1990, Arizona voters amended the Arizona Constitution to include the Victims’ Bill of Rights, and the Arizona Legislature soon after passed the Victims’ Rights Implementation Act (Act). The Act requires that, once an individual is charged with a crime, the criminal defendant and defense lawyer may only contact the victim through the prosecutor. Nearly 25 years after the Act passed, the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, along with criminal defense attorneys and an investigator, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona challenging the constitutionality of the restriction on how crime victims may be contacted. The plaintiffs allege that the statute violates their own constitutional rights, not those of their criminal-defendant clients.

The district court dismissed the challenge three times, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, concluding that the plaintiffs have standing to seek federal court review of the Act and that there is insufficient risk of interference with state court criminal cases to stop the federal courts from issuing a ruling.

Attorney General Brnovich is urging SCOTUS to accept the case in an effort to protect and respect victims of crime and state sovereignty. The AGO's brief argues that the Ninth Circuit incorrectly applied a doctrine that restrains federal courts from issuing rulings that will interfere with ongoing criminal proceedings.

Copy of Arizona's cert petition.