Mark Brnovich (born November 25, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Arizona who currently serves as the 26th Attorney General of Arizona. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to the office on November 5, 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Felecia Rotellini. Brnovich's family is originally from Montenegro.
Video Mark Brnovich
Early life and education
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Brnovich moved to Arizona at the age of two. Brnovich's mother was born in the former Yugoslavia and legally emigrated to the United States.
Brnovich received a bachelor's degree in political science from Arizona State University and his juris doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law. While at Arizona State, Brnovich was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.
Maps Mark Brnovich
Early political career
Brnovich has worked as the Director of the Center for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute, briefly for the Corrections Corporation of America, served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, a prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and Assistant Attorney General of Arizona. He was appointed the director of the Arizona Department of Gaming in 2009. He served in the role through 2013, when he resigned to run for Attorney General of Arizona in the 2014 election. He defeated incumbent Tom Horne in the August Republican Party primary election and Felecia Rotellini in the general election.
Brnovich personally argued in defense of the "one-person, one-vote" principle before the United States Supreme Court on December 8, 2015 in the Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission case.
In May 2017, Brnovich provided the commencement speech for the University of San Diego, his alma matter. Brnovich was one of only two Republican politicians to address graduates at the universities ranked in the top 100 by U.S. News and World Report.
Brnovich currently serves as the Chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General, a non-partisan organization of Attorneys General from 15 western states, three Pacific territories and 13 associate member states.
In August 2017, Brnovich was appointed to a bipartisan working group of state attorneys general titled "Protecting America's Seniors: Attorneys General United Against Elder Abuse." The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) presidential initiative was established to focus on strengthening efforts nationwide to combat elder abuse.
Attorney General
Dismissal of ADA lawsuits
In August 2016 the Arizona Attorney General's office took action in Maricopa County Superior Court and filed to intervene in over 1,000 lawsuits from an "advocacy" group that flooded courts with "copy and paste" disability access lawsuits targeting mostly small businesses. By intervening, the Attorney General's office made itself a part of the cases and argued that group, "Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities," exceeded their legal authority and that the group was not allowed to collect fees on these types of lawsuits. A judge agreed to allow the Attorney General's office to intervene and consolidated the cases while also preventing Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities from filing new lawsuits in September 2016. In December of that year the office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits. A judge granted the Attorney General's office request in February 2017, dismissing over 1,000 of the lawsuits. After the successful action by his office, Brnovich remarked: "Arizona is not going to tolerate serial litigators who try to shake down small hardworking businesses by exploiting the disability community."
Lawsuit against Arizona Board of Regents
On September 8, 2017, Brnovich sued the Arizona Board of Regents, saying the entity in charge of setting tuition for Arizona universities had "dramatically and unconstitutionally" increased tuition and fees over the last 15 years. In the lawsuit, Brnovich said the Board of Regents had "abandoned its duty to serve as a check on the university presidents" by allowing an "unprecedented series of lockstep tuition hikes" that violates the state's constitutional mandate requiring tuition for in-state students at college to be "as nearly free as possible."
The constitutionality challenge included an additional charge against the Board of Regents for continuing to provide in-state tuition for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") recipient students. A state Court of Appeal previously ruled in June of 2017 that DACA students don't have "lawful immigration status" and therefore don't qualify for in-state tuition because of a 2006 voter-approved measure that prohibits in-state tuition and financial aid for undocumented college students.
Electoral history
References
External links
- Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich official state government site
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
Source of article : Wikipedia
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