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Scott Day Freeman (born in 1965) is the current Vice Chair of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, serving in that capacity until his term ends in 2021. He is also a commercial lawyer practicing in Arizona and Nevada at the law firm of Fennemore Craig.

Early life and education
Freeman was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended high school at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix and college at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and was elected to membership in the Tau Beta Pi national engineering honorary. Freeman attended Arizona State College of Law (now known as the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law) where he served as the Executive Managing Editor of the Arizona State Law Journal and a legal writing instructor.

Professional career
Freeman is a director (partner) with the law firm of Fennemore Craig, P.C., where he practices in the areas of commercial litigation and tort liability defense.

Arizona Redistricting
In 2000, Arizona voters approved Proposition 106, which eliminated the Arizona legislature’s congressional and state redistricting authority, vesting it in a five-member commission known as the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC or Commission). The leadership in the legislature appoints the first four members of the Commission, with the Speaker of the House picking first, followed by the House minority leader, the Senate majority leader, and the Senate minority leader. After the first four commissioners are appointed, they meet to appoint a fifth commissioner who serves as the Commission’s chair. The fifth commissioner cannot be of the same political party as the first four commissioners. In selecting the chair, the first four commissioners are limited to a slate of five candidates that have been screened by Arizona’s Appellate Court Nominating Commission. The AIRC conducts state and federal redistricting pursuant to the Arizona Constitution. A commissioner’s term runs until that commissioner is replaced by a commissioner appointed to conduct the redistricting after the ensuing decennial census. The first AIRC was empaneled in early 2001 and conducted redistricting in Arizona after the 2000 census. The second AIRC was empaneled in January and February 2011 after the 2010 decennial census.

Appointment to the Commission in 2011
After the 2010 decennial census, Freeman was one of 79 individuals who applied in October 2010 to serve as a commissioner on the AIRC. Arizona’s Appellate Court Nominating Commission reduced the applicants to a slate of 10 Republicans, 10 Democrats, and 5 applicants who were neither Republican or Democrat, all of which, in this instance, were registered Independents. On January 31, 2011, Kirk Adams, the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, appointed Freeman as the first of member of five-member Commission that would conduct the redistricting after the 2010 census.

Selection of legal counsel
Controversy arose when the AIRC selected its legal counsel on a 3-2 vote. As the AIRC did in 2001, the Commission was to appoint two attorneys, one Republican affiliated and the other Democratic affiliated. In selecting legal counsel, however, the independent chair of the AIRC sided with the two Democratic commissioners and appointed both the Republican and Democratic affiliated attorneys, over-riding the positions of Freeman and the other Republican commissioner as to which attorney should be retained as the Republican affiliated counsel for the commission.

Selection of mapping consultant
Controversy arose when the AIRC selected its mapping consultant on another 3-2 vote, with the chair again siding with the two Democrats on the commission to retain Strategic Telemetry, a Washington, D.C.-based mapping firm with strong ties to high-profile Democrats, as the AIRC’s mapping consultant. Although opposing the retention, Freeman later proposed contract modifications meant to “allay some pubic concerns” about the mapping consultant’s ties to Democratic campaign efforts.

Investigation of possible open meeting law violations
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office investigated possible violations of the state’s open meeting law relating to the retention of the mapping consultant. Freeman testified in a deposition as part of that investigation as did the other Republican Commissioner Rick Stertz. The Chair and the Democrat commissioners refused to testify and produce documents asserting legislative privilege. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Officer, which had substituted for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, eventually dropped the investigation after a trial court ruled that the state’s open meeting laws did not apply to the AIRC. The Arizona Court of Appeals later overturned that decision in part, holding that the open meeting law applied to the AIRC, where not in conflict with Arizona’s constitution, and that commissioners could not assert legislative privilege regarding communications related to the retention of the mapping consultant.

Governor’s removal of the Chair
On October 26, 2011, Governor Brewer sent all five commissioners a letter wherein she requested that each commissioner respond to a series of alleged improprieties by commissioners and the Commission. The Governor’s letter was the first step in the process of forcibly removing one or more commissioners. In an 18-page response, excluding exhibits, Freeman denied that any of the Governor’s allegations applied to his conduct. Freeman also opposed the expenditure of state funds to hire lawyers to represent individual commissioners in responding to the Governor’s allegations. The Governor, with concurrence of two-thirds of the Arizona Senate, removed the Chair of the Commission. The AIRC challenged the removal, which was overturned by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Approval of state and federal maps
The AIRC adopted final legislative and congressional maps on a 3-2 vote, with Freeman and the other Republican commissioner opposing.

Personal life
Freeman and his wife life Laura live in Phoenix and have four children, with the youngest being born during his tenure as a commissioner. Category:Arizona Republicans Category:Living people External links Redistricting in Arizona article on Ballotpedia.org

Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission

Fennemore Craig, P.C.