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Hello John,
Nat here, democracy policy associate for Stewardship Utah. As you know, during the legislative session, Stewardship Utah challenges bad bills and educates our communities about harmful legislation, providing activists with the tools they need to fight back against power grabs and overreach by the legislature. Recently, we have talked a lot about vote-by-mail, but our judiciary system is also being targeted . If you don’t keep up with bills affecting Utah’s judicial branch, keep reading. Like other cornerstones of democracy, such as vote-by-mail, our state’s judiciary system faces attacks from the legislature. The time for us to take action is now!
We are almost halfway to our $10,000 goal. Donate today to take action to protect our state judiciary system, one that works for the people. [[link removed]]
Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature overstepped its power and acted against the people's will by gutting Proposition 4, a ballot initiative passed by Utahns in 2018 that would create an independent redistricting commission. The intent was to mitigate partisan gerrymandering and give all Utahns a more equal say in the future of our state. In the summer of 2024, the legislature called an emergency session and created Amendment D, a constitutional amendment allowing legislators to ignore ballot initiatives passed by the people, including redrawing congressional and legislative maps to be fairer. Amendment D failed before the election, but the Legislature wasn’t finished.
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Former Representative Rosemary Lesser speaking out against Amendment D during a rally, summer of 2024.
Donate today to help protect vote-by-mail [[link removed]]
As they work to undermine ballot initiatives and vote-by-mail this session, the Legislature has proposed several bills targeting the judicial branch in apparent retribution for their ruling last year. Here are just four of the bills that would affect our state’s judiciary:
* SB 203: This bill would significantly narrow standing, or the right to bring a challenge to court, for associations and third parties - like nonprofits who hope to stop unconstitutional laws passed by the legislature.
* HB 451: Currently, judges are retained in elections so long as they get a majority, or 50% of the vote. This bill would increase that threshold to 67% which would dilute the power of the voters.
* HB 512: This bill would create a commission of legislators who would get to recommend, without need for transparent evidence, whether or not a judge should be retained, and this recommendation would go directly on the ballot - a privilege not even enjoyed by our impartial Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission!
* SB 296: Right now, the Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court is chosen by the members of the Utah Supreme Court. This bill would give that power to the Governor who would hand pick the Chief Justice with the help of the Senate. If that isn’t eroding separation of powers, I don’t know what is!
Each of these bills erodes the independence and power of the judicial branch as a check against the legislature. It hands some of our worst actors on Capitol Hill the power to ignore their constituents, taking away Utahns’ rights to self-determination. The implications are far-reaching, potentially impacting popular institutions like vote-by-mail (currently under attack at the legislature).
Donate today to help protect vote-by-mail [[link removed]]
While these bills haven’t yet passed into law, we work hard daily to keep it that way. But we need your help. Will you chip in to help us meet our $10,000 goal by the end of February? [[link removed]] We are almost halfway there! This support directly impacts our efforts to convince legislators to listen to their constituents and oppose these retaliatory bills.
Utahns cannot afford for these bills to become law. State leaders continue to dismantle our system of checks and balances and give themselves more authority over our day-to-day lives. Help us fight this; donate to Stewardship Utah today!
Onwards,
www.stewardshiputah.org [www.stewardshiputah.org] Nat Williams,
Democracy Policy Associate
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.stewardshiputah.org [[link removed]]
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Stewardship Utah
68 E 2700 S
South Salt Lake, UT 84115
United States
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