There are seven nominees to switch Utah Supreme Court docket Justice Thomas Lee, who’s retiring from the bench on the finish of July. After a public remark interval, Gov. Spencer Cox will make an appointment to the five-judge panel.
Lee is stepping down after being appointed to the Utah Supreme Court docket in 2010 by former Gov. Gary Herbert. Lee’s brother, Mike, is the senior U.S. Senator from Utah.
Six of the seven nominees presently sit on the bench in Utah. Matthew Bates, James Gardner and Dianna Gibson serve on Utah’s Third District Court docket. Ryan Harris and Jill Pohlman are from the Utah Court docket of Appeals. Clemens Landau sits on the Salt Lake Metropolis Justice Court docket. D. Carolina Nunez is an immigration regulation professor at Brigham Younger College.
Bates, Gardner, Gibson, Harris and Pohlman have been appointed to the bench by former Gov. Gary Herbert, whereas Landau was appointed by former Salt Lake Metropolis Mayor Jackie Biskupski.
4 of the seven nominees have been beforehand nominated to the Utah Supreme Court docket. Harris, Landau, Nunez and Pohlman have been on the shortlist to switch Justice Constandinos Himonas earlier this 12 months. Cox finally appointed Diana Hagen. Pohlman was additionally nominated to fill a Utah Supreme Court docket emptiness in 2017.
Some notable circumstances involving the potential justices:
In 2006, when Bates was an assistant state legal professional normal, he represented the state in a court docket case the place a 13-year-old Ogden woman, impregnated by her 12-year-old boyfriend, was labeled a delinquent. The woman was discovered responsible of violating Utah’s fornication regulation that prohibits intercourse with anybody beneath 14. The Utah Supreme Court docket threw the case out.
In 2018, Gardner rejected an election-related lawsuit from then-Rep. Mia Love’s marketing campaign. Love sued to cease Salt Lake County from counting votes in her race towards Democrat Ben McAdams, claiming there was no mechanism to problem voter signatures on mail-in ballots. McAdams defeated Love by simply 694 votes.
In the course of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gibson blocked a live performance in Tooele County meant to protest coronavirus restrictions. The state had loosened most restrictions on companies however nonetheless banned gatherings of greater than 50 individuals. The present finally passed off in Cedar Metropolis.
Harris dominated in 2018 {that a} court docket might reduce off alimony funds if the recipient lives with another person, Fox 13 reported. A decrease court docket stopped a girl’s $7,000 monthly alimony after she began residing with a brand new boyfriend. Harris upheld the decrease court docket ruling.
Earlier than being appointed to the bench, Landau represented the mom of Darien Hunt, the 22-year-old man shot to loss of life by Saratoga Springs Police in 2017. Susan Hunt claimed she didn’t conform to a monetary settlement with the town over the taking pictures, however a federal decide dominated towards her.
After his appointment, Landau carried out a program the place defendants might substitute fines or group service hours with donations to charitable organizations, based on ABC 4.
Lee was on former President Donald Trump’s record of potential U.S. Supreme Court docket nominees in 2018 and 2020. Trump chosen Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett as a substitute.
In 2018, Lee and then-Lt. Gov. Cox got here beneath fireplace for accepting front-row tickets to the Utah Jazz from former proprietor Gail Miller. Lee and Cox mentioned they didn’t break moral guidelines by utilizing the tickets. Cox claims he didn’t violate a ban on items to government department members as a result of he thought-about Miller a detailed buddy.