Arizona lawmakers invoke special immunity for speeding tickets

Washington Post

24-03-2025

PHOENIX — Soon after his black sedan was clocked speeding 18 miles an hour over the limit through a western-themed town north of here, Arizona state Sen. Mark Finchem (R) wanted to make sure he would not be treated like an ordinary person.
Writing on his office letterhead, Finchem sought assurances from a police chief that he would be spared from a traffic ticket. He cited a provision in the state constitution that shields lawmakers from certain penalties while the legislature is in session.
'Perhaps the officer is unaware of the law in this regard,' he wrote about his Jan. 25 citation. 'For my part, I was unaware that the stretch of the road I was driving on was 30 MPH … Regardless, under Article 4, Part 2, Section 6 of the Arizona Constitution, I ask that the citation be voided and stricken from the record.'
The senator was one of three MAGA Republicans in the state pulled over for speeding over the past year who benefited from legislative immunity that either shielded them from punishment or delayed it.
By using the law in their favor, they have sparked debate about the fairness of a constitutionally enshrined justice system that protects those in power from the same type of immediate consequences their constituents face every day. Their moves have been received by some members of their own party and Democrats as evidence they were acting with impunity. Supporters of the immunity provision say it ensures that those in power cannot use the law — even in the form of traffic violations — to target critics.
The debate over Republicans far from Washington using the law for personal benefit comes at a time when President Donald Trump has avoided consequences in his own criminal cases and made sweeping changes across the federal government, including at the FBI, the Department of Justice and independent watchdogs responsible for investigating allegations of wrongdoing.
But a Republican Arizona House member wants to end the two-tiered justice system for traffic scofflaws. Rep. Quang Nguyen has introduced a resolution that would let voters decide during the 2026 midterm election whether lawmakers should continue to be immune from traffic violations while they are in session. The resolution passed the House this month with bipartisan support, but its fate in the Senate is unclear.
'It's important that we don't improperly use our privilege for nonwork-related reasons,' Nguyen said. 'I can tell you with the last three tickets, they were not going to the capitol; they were not doing any work at the capitol. If I get pulled over, I should get the same tickets and pay the same fine as you.'
According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, state constitutions generally grant two categories of immunity to lawmakers: speech or debate and preventing or limiting arrest while legislatures are in session.
The immunity concept originated long ago in the English Bill of Rights as monarchs tried to intimidate lawmakers and was intended to underscore a separation of powers within the government. Lawmakers have invoked the privilege at various times over the years to either delay punishment until after legislative work ends or avoid it altogether.
In 1996, a Virginia Republican state lawmaker invoked the privilege during the legislative session after exposing himself in a Richmond park. He got a charge of indecent exposure against him thrown out, but it was reinstated after the General Assembly adjourned, according to press reports. In 2019, a Democratic lawmaker from West Virginia claimed the privilege and then avoided a misdemeanor charge after he was accused of forcefully opening a door into a capitol employee and elbowing a colleague.
In Arizona, legislators are free from arrest and questioning in all cases except for treason, felony and breach of the peace, starting 15 days before the legislature convenes and lasting throughout the session. In 2011, police said a Republican senator claimed immunity after a fight with his girlfriend; he disputed the allegation, according to press reports. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.
In 2018, Rep. Paul Mosley (R), invoked immunity after he was stopped for driving 97 mph in a 55 mph zone. He did not get a ticket, and body-camera footage showed him telling a deputy that he sometimes drove up to 140 miles an hour. Mosley was charged with excessive speed after the session ended — and revelations emerged that he had been stopped several other times for speeding over a year-long stretch.
The episode triggered outrage, and then-Gov. Doug Ducey (R) joined Democrats in calling for the immunity provision to be repealed. But it remained and is featured during new member orientation, lawmakers said.
During his orientation before the 2023 session, Sen. Flavio Bravo (D) said presenters highlighted Mosley's speeding proclivities and legislative staffers told lawmakers the privilege 'was not something to abuse,' Bravo recalled.
Nguyen said the privilege was described during his training as a way to make sure members were 'not late for a vote.' In the House, security officials have for decades given stickers to lawmakers who requested them to put on the backs of their driver's licenses or other items, a House spokesperson said. The stickers cite the constitutional immunity language.
Paul Bender, a professor of law and dean emeritus for Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, said the privilege was supposed to protect lawmakers only from missing votes during the session if they got in minor legal trouble.
'The only justifiable reason that I can think of is that they fear prosecutors would be using speeding tickets to try to get lawmakers to do what they want them to do,' Bender said. 'I'm not aware of that happening.'
Last year, during the legislature's session, then-Sen. Justine Wadsack (R) was pulled over by a Tucson police officer who alleged she was 'traveling at a high rate of speed.' The officer reported that she was driving her Tesla 71 mph in a 35 mph zone.
'My name is Sen. Justine Wadsack, and I am racing to get home because I have four miles left on my charger before I'm about to go down,' she told the officer. She added, 'I am a government employee.' After the officer contacted 'our legal adviser it was decided' that Wadsack 'was possibly immune from a violation,' the officer wrote in a report. The officer indicated a citation could be issued in the future.
After the legislature adjourned in June, an officer called Wadsack, records said. She 'argued that she was in fact not speeding,' and 'she refused to meet to sign the citation and said she would not accept it.' According to the records, 'She demanded to speak with the Chief of Police and said that she was under 'political persecution.''
In July, Wadsack was charged with criminal excessive speeding. She claimed without evidence that city officials had targeted her for political reasons: 'Despite the clear legal prohibitions, the Democrat Mayor and Police Chief have decided to use the power of government to prosecute their political opponents,' she wrote in September on X.
Wadsack tried to use legislative immunity to get the charge dismissed. A judge ruled against her, writing that her attorney's 'assertion that members of the legislature freely speed 'all the time'' was disturbing — 'especially in the context of excessive speed.' Wadsack took a defensive driving course, and the case was dismissed in early January. She maintains she was singled out.
'The targeting of Conservative lawmakers we are witnessing, is exactly why Legislative immunity was written into the Constitution the way it was,' she wrote in a statement to The Washington Post. City officials said she was treated like anyone else.
Days after her case ended, Sen. Jake Hoffman (R), founding chair of the legislature's Freedom Caucus, was pulled over on Jan. 22 as he drove home. Hoffman was accused of driving 24 mph over the limit, records said. A state trooper recognized Hoffman, who told The Post he did not invoke immunity or identify himself as a lawmaker until he was asked. He got a warning.
'He will not be issued a citation once the session ends,' Sgt. Eric Andrews said in an email.
Finchem was pulled over three days later in Prescott, about 90 minutes north of Phoenix. He immediately identified himself as a senator and said after he was issued a ticket, 'I'll take it up with legislative counsel.'
Finchem did not respond to a request for comment.
The episodes involving legislative immunity prompted Nguyen to peel his sticker citing the immunity language off of his driver's license and then mount an effort to get rid of the protection. His resolution would put a question on the 2026 general election ballot asking voters whether immunity for traffic violations should be excluded. He said the privilege is being abused: 'I've had enough of it.'
The resolution passed out of the House judiciary committee with bipartisan support, but its future is uncertain, Nguyen and other lawmakers said.
Hoffman, also a national committeeman for the Republican National Committee, said in a written statement that the immunity protects voters as much as anyone.
'In the current era of rampant weaponization of government, including right here in Arizona, legislative immunity serves as a protection for others to ensure that their legislators are not influenced, threatened, intimidated, or coerced in an effort to prevent them from serving their constituents,' he said.
Several lawmakers and legislative staffers said they doubted the bill could muster support in the Senate. One former GOP legislator predicted its fate.
'There's no way it will ever be repealed,' said Mosley, who had bragged years ago of breaking the speed limit. 'It's kind of like a perk or a benefit. That's like saying to legislators, 'Hey, will you take a pay cut?''