Legislature should keep hands off Supreme Court

At a local St. Patrick's Day parade years ago, then-Gov. Scott M. Matheson shouted out at the start: "Get the English out of Ireland and the Legislature out of Utah!"

Mark Twain said the only criminal class in America is Congress.

Yes, legislative bodies get little respect.

But some really loony things happen when you get 100 or 400 people together, lump in plenty of politics and self-preservation at election time, and try to come out with common-solution lawmaking while spending billions of dollars.

Admittedly, state and national legislators don't help themselves when they act with arrogance, grabbing power as they can.

It is with no small bit of irony, then, when we see conservatives in the current 2010 Legislature introducing bills and resolutions taking on the "abuse" of the federal government — and then turning around and grabbing a little more power for themselves.

It's worse when state lawmakers lean on citizens and other branches of government in doing so.

Usually, legislators put the executive branch of government — specifically the governor — in their sights. But this year there's a lovefest between GOP Gov. Gary Herbert and Republican lawmakers. That's because legislators decided months ago that Herbert "is our guy" — as one GOP House leader put it.

Tired of popular Republican governors they saw as moderates, conservatives are embracing Herbert as he runs this year to fill out the final two years of former Gov. Jon "I favor the Common Ground bills" Huntsman. Many GOP lawmakers were glad to put Huntsman on a slow boat to China last summer.

So, if this is not the year to take out after the governor and his executive powers, what then?

Enter the Utah Supreme Court.

Justices and judges have been on the wrong side of GOP legislators for some time. They issue opinions and decisions some legislators don't like. They don't seem accountable to Utah public opinion, instead ruling on (gasp!) the law. They have nearly automatic re-election to their jobs (legislators have this too, but that's OK). Citizens hold judges in high regard — legislators? Not so much.

And sin of sins, on rare occasions, the Utah Supreme Court rules the very laws legislators adopt unconstitutional.