PHOENIX — A judge Tuesday afternoon threw out a challenge to a new statute that imposes additional restrictions on the ability of citizens to propose their own laws.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens acknowledged that requiring future initiative petitions to be in "strict compliance'' with all election laws will create an additional burden. Until now, courts have said that petitions need be only in "substantial compliance,'' a standard that allows measure to go to voters despite errors that judges conclude are technical or harmless.
But Stephens said all that is legally irrelevant, at least for the time being.
She said anyone challenging an Arizona law "must demonstrate that he is realistically threatened by a repetition of a constitutional violation.'' Merely the fact that the law could affect someone who violates it — and can avoid violating it — is insufficient to give Arizona courts the authority to rule.
And Stephens pointed out there is no current initiative drive that has been affected by the new requirement.
Today's ruling means the new law takes effect as scheduled Wednesday.
But it does not end the matter.
All it means is that a decision on whether the Legislature acted illegally has to wait until some petition drive is actually affected by the new law. And at that point, according to Stephens, the issue would be legally "ripe'' for her or some other judge to rule.
