Judiciary must remain independent

Sen. Chris Buttars recently stated that he intends to introduce legislation that would require Senate confirmation each time a state judge's term comes to an end. Presently, the voters elect to retain or not retain the judge. Sen. Buttars' idea is a bad idea. Article V, Section 1, of the Utah Constitution written in 1896 states:

"The powers of the government of the State of Utah shall be divided into three distinct departments, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments, shall exercise any functions appertaining to either of the others, except in the cases herein expressly directed or permitted."

The Founding Fathers of the United States and the state of Utah recognized the importance of separating three branches of government — the executive, legislative and judicial. The idea of separation of powers originated with the French philosopher Montesquieu. He wrote that government authority, if consolidated in a single individual or a single branch of government, would inevitably become tyrannical.

Washington, Franklin, Madison, Adams and Jefferson all agreed that under our system of checks and balances, the power to check could only be exercised by independent branches that acted without threat of recrimination from the other branches.

Sen. Buttars may not like decisions made by Utah's independent judiciary, but he is not without this remedy. Under the state constitution he could seek to impeach or remove the offending judge. Impeachment is not an easy process, nor should it be.

United States Supreme Court Justice Kennedy recently gave an unusual talk to the American Bar Association in which he urged lawyers to become more vocal advocates for the "Rule of Law."

I would not have been moved to write this editorial except for a deeply held belief that, as a lawyer, I have a sacred obligation to protect, indeed conserve, our institutions of government. One of the ironies of our system of government is the judiciary (the most powerful because it has the final word on interpretation of the Constitution) is without a public voice.

The Utah Legislature during the 2004-05 session seemed to be increasingly dominated by ill-informed bullies uninterested in vigorous, civil debate which might shape an acceptable compromise or bring new ideas forward. Lawmakers' lack of interest in dialogue reflects their arrogant belief that they know best and others should follow.