Litigation

Utah State Senator Renamed Chair After Blast at Judge

By Lissette Villarruel

Utah state Senator Chris Buttars will once again be named chairman of the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee, even though he was removed from the same position last year, according to an article in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Buttars lost his chairmanship during the 2008 legislative session after a scathing letter from Buttars to 4th District Judge Derek Pullan became public. The letter concerned a ruling Pullan had made against a friend of the senator, for which Buttars ?scolded? him:

At best this decision conflicts with the values you espoused when confirmed to this important position; and at worst, it exposes a flaw in the most important quality a judge’s character can possess, integrity. Either way, I am embarrassed in this case to have supported your appointment.

The reprimand was viewed as meddlesome and inappropriate and, ultimately, resulted in Buttars? demotion.

Now, Buttars? reinstatement to the very committee that vets judicial nominees is not unsettling for Utah Bar Association President Nathan Alder, who remarked, ??Regardless of the personalities involved, we believe in the assurances we?ve gotten that the process will be fair. We’ll trust that and see how it works out.??

Despite the confidence surrounding Buttars? reappointment as chair of a judicial committee, the debate concerning the extent of permissible legislative influence upon an independent judiciary continues.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 06, 2009 (boomark / email).