Utah Supreme Court to hear challenges to new ‘constitutional court’ law

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court will hear a series of legal challenges to a new law the legislature passed creating a special panel of judges to hear lawsuits against the state.

On Wednesday, the state’s top court said it would hear arguments in September from the League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, who are suing the Utah State Legislature for overriding Proposition 4, the independent redistricting citizen ballot initiative that voters approved in 2018. The League and MWEG allege that the Utah State Legislature improperly overrode Prop. 4 and passed a congressional map that was gerrymandered to favor Republicans.

The Court then added lawsuits brought by Planned Parenthood, which is suing the state over the legislature’s near-total abortion ban; and a group of teens suing the Utah Division of Oil, Gas & Mining over climate change. All three challenge the legislature’s creation of a special three-judge panel to hear lawsuits against the state over laws the Utah State Legislature passes.

A lower court sided with the League and MWEG and imposed the map we have now, which creates a more competitive district in Democrat-leaning Salt Lake County. The Utah Supreme Court has also weighed in on appeals challenging the power of citizen intiatives, rulings that have angered the legislature.

The plaintiffs argue it violates Utah’s constitution.

“The Legislature did not limit this power to newly filed cases but rather has exercised it in cases that have been pending for years, including this case. There are no topical limits to this power. The government has the sole and standardless power to invoke it for entirely arbitrary reasons. Worse yet, the Legislature purported to make the government’s decision to transfer a case to a three-judge panel exempt from judicial review, even as it usurped judicial power through legislation. None of this is constitutional,” League and MWEG attorney Troy Booher wrote in the petition.

That new law has been the subject of numerous appeals from high-profile lawsuits in the state that found themselves moved to face a three-judge panel. The Court earlier this year signaled it was interested in taking up the issue, asking for briefing from parties involved in lawsuits over state policies on climate change and abortion rights.

Justices Diana Hagen and John Nielsen have recused themselves from the redistricting case. Justice Hagen disclosed she had renewed friendships with attorneys who happened to be involved in the case, while Justice Nielsen had done work for the Utah Republican Party in the case.