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.

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.

Former Representative Rosemary Lesser speaking out against Amendment D during a rally, summer of 2024.

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:

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).

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? 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,

Nat Williams,

Democracy Policy Associate

[email protected]

www.stewardshiputah.org