SALT LAKE CITY — It's a full circle moment as Republican legislative leaders are going back to the Utah Supreme Court — the very court whose ruling prompted them to run a constitutional amendment in the first place.
The Utah State Legislature has formally appealed a lower-court judge's ruling on Thursday to void Amendment D. In an appeal obtained by FOX 13 News on Friday, lawyers for the legislature argue that the public is being deprived of its right to decide the amendment.
"A handful of plaintiffs and special interest groups want to squelch that precious right. They went to court to stop all Utahns from voting on a proposed constitutional amendment, rather than fight their cause at the ballot box. And the court obliged," the legislature's attorney, Tyler Green, wrote in the filing.
On Thursday, 3rd District Court Judge Dianna Gibson declared Amendment D void. She sided with the League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and others who argued the language appearing before voters was "misleading." While it does block foreign spending in a citizen initiative campaign and extend the time for supporters to gather signatures to put it on the ballot, the plaintiffs argue that it glosses over the fact it would undo the Utah Supreme Court's original ruling that found lawmakers overstepped their powers when they override a citizen initiative that "alters or reforms government."
The July ruling by the Utah Supreme Court prompted the legislature to call itself into an emergency special session to run the amendment. The House Speaker and Senate President have argued that left alone, the Court's ruling would turn "Utah into California" with a flood of ballot initiatives funded by outside interests and lawmakers hands would be tied to fix any problems with the ones that pass.
The voter rights groups have argued the amendment is a "power grab" by the Republican supermajority legislature, stomping on the voice of the people through the initiative and referendum process. Many groups have run citizen initiatives and referendums in Utah — from taxes to medical cannabis, Medicaid expansion and independent redistricting — frustrated at inaction by the legislature on these issues.
In the appeal, Green argued to the Utah Supreme Court that voters are informed about Amendment D and what it does.
"It demeans the State and its voters to conclude that they cannot read, cannot think, and cannot ultimately cast an informed vote on Amendment D," he wrote.
Judge Gibson also ruled there were issues with how the legislature handled public notice of the amendment appearing on the ballot (the law says it must be printed in a newspaper two months before an election). In their appeal, the legislature's attorneys argue that through the sheer volume of news media coverage voters have been given notice about the appeal.
"Utah news outlets with statewide reach are replete with Amendment D coverage. And now, the Legislature itself will have paid for more in apparently unprecedented fashion," Green wrote. "No Utahn can claim that Amendment D is a state secret. There is no justification for voiding its effect without considering those 'immediately surrounding circumstances of the election' and crediting the voter as a 'reasonably intelligent' one."
The judge ordered the ballots to be printed with Amendment D on them, but any votes cast on it would simply not be counted. That also allowed for the ability for it to be reinstated should her ruling be overturned on appeal.
There is no indication of when — or if — the Utah Supreme Court will take up the case. The state's top court has the power to hear it or dismiss it entirely.
