Litigation

Lone Justice Supports UT Governor Naming Chief

By Peter Hardin

Four of Utah’s five state Supreme Court justices oppose a bill that would let the governor select the chief justice. But one justice, Michael Wilkins, spoke out in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune that he supports the bill and believes it is within the legislature’s authority to enact.

The justices currently select the chief. Justice Wilkins, who is retiring in May, said he did not see the proposal as as “some enormous challenge to the authority of the court or the judiciary.”

But Justice Jill Parrish, testifying earlier before a legislative panel, said it could break down the court’s independence and politicize it.

Utah’s judges generally are picked through a merit selection process.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 18, 2010 (boomark / email).