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The Appeals Debate in Utah

By standdown

Today's Salt Lake Tribune carries the editorial, "Off with their heads: Shurleff offers travesty of justice." The state and federal constitutions provide for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The three have separate and distinct functions and they "check and balance" one another. It's a good system that has worked pretty well for more than 200 years. But Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff believes he has a better idea. Shurtleff -- of the executive branch -- wants to give the Legislature -- the legislative branch -- power to dictate to Utah courts -- the judicial branch -- how they should do their jobs, in a wrongheaded and unconstitutional power grab he's disguising as a way to expedite executions...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on February 16, 2009 (boomark / email).