O'Connor helping lead talks on changing Arizona

PHOENIX — Since retiring as a Supreme Court justice in 2006, Sandra Day O'Connor has championed such causes as judicial independence, civics education and Alzheimer's research. Now add improving Arizona's nearly century-old state government.

O'Connor, who served as a legislative leader and state appellate court judge in Arizona before becoming the first woman on the Supreme Court, is among dozens of civic leaders, educators, business executives and others brainstorming a wide range of proposals to change how the state's government is organized and runs.

"I love Arizona. I'm a resident of Arizona again, and I care about this state," the former justice told reporters after a private meeting of the discussion group. "I worked in all three branches of Arizona state government in the years that I was here and it's little hard to divorce one's lifetime of exposure and interest, and I still have it."

Ideas being discussed as possibilities to go on the state's 2010 general election ballot include electing a lieutenant governor, dividing legislative districts and modifying state laws on ballot initiatives, public campaign funding and protections for voter-approved laws, O'Connor said.

"It is our hope that as Arizona's leaders go over the recommendations that come out of this process, they'll be inclined to help put many of them before the voters so that the voters can ultimately make a choice," she said.

Besides O'Connor, participants include several current and former legislators, mayors, newspaper editors and others.

O'Connor, now 79, said before leaving the Supreme Court in January 2006 that she would care for her ill husband, John, and pursue her hobbies of golf and fishing.

However, O'Connor has served as a visiting judge, campaigned for elimination of judicial elections, worked on computer games to help teach how government functions in a democracy and appealed for more funding for Alzheimer's research. Her husband has the disease.