Judge's nomination rejected

In a rare move, the Senate voted against the judicial confirmation of Robert Hilder, with a primary criticism being his anti-gun-rights rulings.

The Senate voted 16-12 against confirmation for Hilder to Utah's appellate bench, with one of the key criticisms being his ruling in favor of the University of Utah's concealed weapons ban.

Along with the gun ruling, Hilder was also criticized as being unable to control his temper, a problem Sen. Chris Buttars, R- West Jordan, said the judge displayed during a closed-door portion of hearings before the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee.

"What these people do is define and really make our law," said Buttars. "He's got a lot of holes in his game."

Flanked by his wife, sons and stepsons, Hilder said after the vote that elected officials did not judge him fairly. He will not again pursue promotion but will remain a 3rd District Court judge for at least six more years because he won his retention election earlier this month.

Supporters of Hilder praised his work ethic, fairness and intelligence, but that support was not compelling enough for the Senate to approve Hilder.

The Senate vote followed two committee hearings about Hilder; the first was delayed to give the senators time to think over the issues. Following hours of testimony during the second hearing, the committee forwarded the recommendation to the Senate in a virtually unprecedented split vote, with a slight majority advocating the appointment.

Wednesday's Senate hearing was likewise narrowly split. Its vote to deny Hilder's appointment was the first rejection of an appointed judge since 2003, when the judicial appointment process changed.

Senators in favor of Hilder said the judge consistently received very high performance evaluation ratings from attorneys and jurors. Hilder has always been approved in retention elections, they added.

"In sum, I would say he's the best of the best," said Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, who has argued as an attorney before Hilder.

The judge also had wide support within the legal community and from those who work with him daily, such as police officers and probation officers, said Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley. Mayne independently surveyed the so-called "worker bees" in deciding to support Hilder, she said.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said after the vote that he noted the nomination would be controversial when it was first announced, and told the staff of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that it would be a "tough appointment."

"This is not an intent to confront the governor in any way on the issue of his appointments," he said. But in his 20 years of legislative experience, he'd "never seen so much opposition to a candidate."