Arthur John Pelander III (born January 26, 1951) is a former justice of the

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justice ...

. Pelander has a bachelor's degree from

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ...

and a J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law. He was from 1976 to 1977 clerk for Richard H. Chambers of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1998 he earned an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in judicial processes. From 1977 until 1995 he was involved in private practice, eventually becoming a partner in a law firm. He practiced law in Tucson and was involved in civil litigation. In May 1995 he was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 2 by

Fife Symington John Fife Symington III (; born August 12, 1945) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 19th governor of Arizona from 1991 until his resignation in 1997. A member of the Republican Party, he resigned from office following con ...

. In 2004 he became the chief judge of this court. In September 2009 Pelander was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court. During Pelander's 2012 retention election he formed a campaign committee to fight off a "a Republican and "tea party" effort to vote him off the bench." The opposition stemmed from Pelander's ruling in a three judge panel that Proposition 121 could be on the November ballot. The case was ''Open Government Committee v. Bennett.'' Pelander was retained with 73.94% of the vote in the general election on November 6, 2012. He retired on March 1, 2019.

Sources

Arizona Courts bio of PelanderAnnouncement of Pelander's appointment''Verde Independent'' Aug. 3, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelander, John 1951 births Living people Wittenberg University alumni University of Arizona alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges