(Arizona Supreme Court)
After graduating from Yale Law School in 1972, Andrew Hurwitz ’68 learned about the federal court system as a law clerk in district court, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and ultimately, the Supreme Court, where he worked for Justice Potter Stewart. Now, the longtime litigator and current Arizona Supreme Court justice could be headed back to the federal courts. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama nominated Hurwitz to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco.
In a news release announcing the nomination, Obama expressed confidence in Hurwitz’s “ability, integrity, and independence” as a justice. “Justice Hurwitz has proven himself to be not only a first-rate legal mind but a faithful public servant,” he said.
While Hurwitz has worked primarily in law, he also has served in state government as chief of staff to two Arizona governors, Bruce Babbitt (from 1980-83) and Rose Mofford (1988). He was appointed to the state’s Supreme Court in 2003.
Hurwitz’s interest in the law was firmly in place by the time he left Princeton. He served as president of the Pre-Law Society and wrote his thesis about the jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, with Professor Walter Murphy serving as his adviser.
In other judicial news, alumna Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ’87 was confirmed on an 89-6 vote in the U.S. Senate Nov. 15, paving the way for her to begin work as a district court judge in northern California. Gonzalez Rogers was highlighted as PAW’s Tiger of the Week on July 20, 2011.
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