AZ lawmakers using provision rooted in England to dodge speeding tickets

• Arizona lawmakers are considering a resolution to remove legislative immunity for traffic violations. The immunity currently protects lawmakers from arrest for non-felony offenses while the Legislature is in session.

• Incidents involving lawmakers using immunity to dismiss speeding charges have sparked debate, with state Rep. Quang Nguyen advocating for accountability and equal treatment under traffic laws.
• English parliamentary protections designed legislative immunity to shield lawmakers from political persecution, but its application in modern traffic cases raises questions about its relevance.

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Arizona lawmakers are considering legislation that would ask voters to strip them of a privilege that originates from English kings jailing members of parliament. 

What is legislative immunity?

Legislative immunity exists in two forms: freedom of speech and freedom from most arrests. Arizona’s constitution grants lawmakers immunity from arrest unless they commit treason, a felony or breach the peace while the Legislature is in session.

In recent years, Arizona legislators have used legislative immunity when pulled over for speeding.

In March 2024, police pulled over then-state Sen. Justine Wadsack in Tucson for allegedly driving 71 mph in a 35 mph zone near the University of Arizona campus. The Tucson Republican claimed legislative immunity and refused to sign the ticket. Authorities later charged her with criminal speeding, but the charge was dismissed after she took a driving course.

In January, police stopped Prescott Republican state Sen. Mark Finchem for driving 18 mph over the limit in his hometown. According to Arizona’s Family, the lawmaker got the charge dismissed, citing legislative immunity.

Change afoot?

State Rep. Quang Nguyen wants to remove that protection for lead-footed lawmakers. In February, he introduced a resolution that would allow voters to change the state constitution so that legislative immunity doesn’t apply to lawmakers who break traffic laws. 

“Elected officials should not have special privileges that allow them to break the law without accountability,” said Nguyen in a Feb. 7 statement. “The people we serve are expected to follow traffic laws, and legislators should be no different. If a lawmaker is caught speeding, running a red light, or committing any other traffic violation, they should face the same consequences as everyone else.”

The House passed the measure on March 11, but the Senate committee has yet to hear it.

What’s the history of legislative immunity?

Legislative immunity is in the U.S. Constitution, but the Founding Fathers got their inspiration from England. According to a paper by former federal Judge Leon R. Yankwich stored by the University of Pennsylvania, the idea for legislative immunity came from England’s kings jailing members of parliament over legislation unfriendly to the crown. In 1688, the country saw its first “unequivocal legislative recognition” of immunity for parliamentary speech, Yankwich wrote.