![handle is hein.journals/jle50 and id is 1 raw text is: Innovation Isn't Free: Arizona's Public Universities'
Legal Battle over Commercial Transactions
Sierra Brown*
I. INTRODUCTION
In November 2019, the Arizona Superior Court handed another
victory to the nation's Most Innovative University,' dismissing four
claims on procedural grounds in a case brought by the State alleging that
Arizona State University's (ASU) recent real estate projects were
illegal.2 But had the court considered the merits, it should have
concluded, as this Comment shows, that the disputed transactions
innovatively mitigated the university's funding crisis.
Arizona's public education system ranks forty-ninth in the country.3
Since the 2008 recession, many states have experienced chronic funding
cuts.4 When comparing all fifty states, Arizona suffered the nation's
* J.D. Candidate, 2021, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
For her endless support and guidance as my faculty advisor, I wish to thank Jessica Berch,
Lecturer-in-Law at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. I
especially wish to thank my husband Ross for his constant patience and encouragement during
law school and the development of this paper.
1. U.S. News & World Report has named Arizona State University (ASU) the Most
Innovative University for six consecutive years. Emma Greguska, ASU Ranked No. 1 in
Innovation for 6th Year by US News and World Report, ASU NEWS (Sept. 13, 2020),
https://asunow.asu.edu/20200913-asu-news-us-news-world-report-no-1-innovation-sixth-year;
Robert Morse & Eric Brooks, Most Innovative Schools Methodology, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REP.
(Sept. 13, 2020), https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/most-innovative-
schools-methodology.
2. Minute Entry by the Honorable Christopher Whitten, Arizona v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents
No: TX 2019-000011 (Ariz. Tax Ct. Nov. 8, 2019),
www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/viewerME.asp?fn=Tax/122019/m8961851.pdf [hereinafter
Nov. Minute Entry]; see also Rachel Leingang, Judge Rules Against Arizona Attorney General
on ASU-Omni Hotel Deal, USA TODAY (Nov. 27, 2019, 10:15 PM),
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2019/11/27/asu-omni-hotel-
deal-judge-rules-against-arizona-attorney-general-brnovich/4323766002/.
3. Adam McCann, States with the Best & Worst School Systems, WALLETHUB (July 27,
2020), https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-the-best-schools/5335 (comparing the quality
and safety of each state and the District of Columbia's school systems).
4. MICHAEL MITCHELL ET AL., CTR. ON BUDGET & POL'Y PRIORITIES, STATE HIGHER
EDUCATION FUNDING CUTS HAVE PUSHED COSTS TO STUDENTS, WORSENED INEQUALITY passim
(Oct. 24, 2019), https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/10-24-19sfp.pdf. School-
1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jle50&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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