She was a law clerk for Judge Laurance T. Wren of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 1975 to 1977.

[citation needed] On July 21, 2000, based upon the recommendation of United States Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona,[2] Bolton was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona vacated by Robert C. Broomfield.

[3] In July 2010, Bolton heard arguments on three of seven lawsuits related to the Arizona SB 1070 immigration law, including United States v.

[5][6] On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Bolton issued a ruling blocking small portions of SB 1070, writing that "requiring police to check the immigration status of those they arrest or whom they stop and suspect are in the country illegally would overwhelm the federal government's ability to respond, and could mean legal immigrants are wrongly arrested.

[8] On July 31, 2017, Judge Bolton filed her "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law" holding former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio in criminal contempt of court for violating an injunction.