PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer has appointed state Court of Appeals Judge John Pelander of Tucson to fill a vacancy on the Arizona Supreme Court.
Brewer announced Tuesday that she selected Pelander from three nominees to fill a vacancy created by former Chief Justice Ruth D. McGregor’s retirement.
The five-member Supreme Court oversees the state’s judicial system, hears automatic appeals of death sentences and considers some cases, with its decisions providing final interpretations of constitutional questions.
Brewer said she chose Pelander, whose full legal name is A. John Pelander III, because of his intellect, temperament and experience.
“He shares my philosophy that judges should strictly interpret the laws and the Constitution and not legislate from the bench,” she added. “Judge Pelander will make a great court even better.”
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It was the first Supreme Court appointment for Brewer, who was the secretary of state and became governor in January upon Janet Napolitano’s resignation.
Brewer spoke favorably of the state’s nominating process, in which a commission nominates several candidates after screening applicants for judicial openings.
Brewer said the commission’s screening process produced three highly qualified nominees and made her own work more efficient.
The other two finalists recommended by a nominating commission for the appointment were Court of Appeals judges Diane M. Johnsen and Ann A. Scott Timmer, both serving on the midlevel court’s Phoenix division.
Pelander and Timmer are Republicans, as is Brewer. Johnsen is a Democrat.
Pelander, 58, was a Supreme Court finalist twice before. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1995. He was in private practice before that, chiefly defending corporate clients in civil cases.
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