More Judges Wanted to Fix Arizona’s ‘Invisible Judicial System’

Making the trip to U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa’s courtroom in Phoenix goes beyond the typical inconvenience for people joining proceedings from far-flung tribal lands in Arizona.

Some parties and jurors must travel hundreds of miles because there is no full-service federal courthouse in the northern part of the state where the country’s biggest reservation is located. One witness in a federal trial, for example, had to drive nearly 10 hours round-trip for about 10 minutes of testimony to authenticate a document, Humetewa said.

“It sort of creates this invisible judicial system for the community that we are meant to ...