Utah's high court has rich history

Some 38 men and two women have donned the robes of Utah Supreme Court justices since Utah was granted statehood in 1896.

And while the justices often maintain a low profile, over the years Utah's "court of last resort" has been at the center of several of the state's high profile cases.

In its earliest days, the court helped project the will of the federal government on a rebellious Utah population, especially polygamists flouting federal and state law.

The modern court concerns itself with appeals, clarifying state law and adopting rules of civil and criminal procedure for use in the state courts, as well as the conduct and discipline of lawyers.

But in those instances when the court has found itself in the public eye, Deseret News photographers have been present, albeit seldom in the actual courtroom. Photo researcher Ron Fox has culled the newspaper archives and located many of these photos.

The first Utah State Supreme Court came into existence with the birth of the state. Before that time, the Territorial Supreme Court was made up of three judges appointed to four-year terms by the president of the United States. One of the most dynamic of those early justices was Charles Shuster Zane.

Early in is legal career, Zane had applied to practice law at Abraham Lincoln's firm in Illinois, but he was turned down. He replaced Lincoln as William H. Herndon's law partner when Lincoln was elected president. In 1884, he was appointed chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court.

In Utah, he was assigned to the 3rd Judicial District as well as the Supreme Court, where he prosecuted polygamists rigorously but offered leniency to the few convicted polygamists who pled guilty and renounced the practice.

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the 1890 Manifesto renouncing polygamy, Zane accepted the statement in good faith and reconciled with local authorities. As a result, he was one of the first three justices elected to the Utah State Supreme Court, established in 1886, and served for three years.

In 1915, the then-five-member court became involved in one of the most controversial cases in Utah history when labor activist and singer Joe Hill was convicted and executed for the murder of a father and son killed in an attempted robbery.