cuchulainn
May 2, 2003, 08:28 AM
from the Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/May/05022003/utah/53205.aspNew Initiative Law Is Taken to Court
By Rebecca Walsh
The Salt Lake Tribune
Before it even takes effect, changes to Utah's new initiative law are being challenged in court.
Gun control advocates filed suit this week in 3rd District Court against the state of Utah, Lt. Gov. Olene Walker and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff asking a judge to declare the statute unconstitutional -- or at least let them gather signatures to keep concealed weapons out of schools under the old initiative law.
"It is truly impossible, under the statutory scheme now in place, to place an initiative on Utah's ballot with a purely grass-roots, volunteer-based effort," the suit states. "This statutory scheme effectively eliminates citizens' initiatives."
Utah's Constitution specifically allows residents to make law if a majority of voters approve it. But the Constitution leaves the rules for initiatives up to state lawmakers. And during the 2003 Legislature, state legislators amended Utah's initiative rules to clamp down on citizen law-making.
Since then, groups ranging from the Humane Society of Utah to term-limit proponents have rushed to file petitions with the Lieutenant Governor's Office before the law takes effect Monday. So far, eight petitions have been filed and approved. Another two are pending.
Before this year, initiative backers had to collect signatures representing 10 percent of those who voted in the last general election in 20 of 29 counties. The Utah Supreme Court struck down that requirement last August, concluding the multi-county requirement placed an undue burden on citizen initiatives and violated the "one-person, one-vote" provisions of the Utah and U.S. Constitutions.
Lawmakers changed those rules to require petition supporters to gather signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in 26 of 29 state Senate districts. At the same time, lawmakers required that initiative leaders hold seven public meetings around the state, limited their time to gather signatures to one year and prohibited similar initiatives from being filed for two years.
The Utah Safe to Learn-Safe to Worship Coalition, also known as Safe Havens for Learning, which has fought for years to block concealed weapon permit-holders from entering schools and churches with their guns, filed a petition March 23.
When the initiative language was approved a week later, Safe Havens for Learning members were told they would have to follow the new rules.
That interpretation of the law, the group contends, unfairly applies the stringent new rules retroactively.
"The Legislature's charge is to facilitate the initiative process," said Dave Jones, spokesman for Safe Havens and a former state representative. "In fact, they are hindering it.
"If they could, they would eliminate initiatives from the Constitution altogether. They perceive that in a republican form of government it is the representatives' sole responsibility to generate and act on law. They don't want the public sticking its nose into the public's business," Jones said.
But Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts said the lieutenant governor is applying the new rules based on where initiative backers are in the process and Safe Havens isn't as far along as others.
"During the legislative process, everyone was aware there might be constitutional issues raised by this legislation," Roberts said. "My clients have taken a position that it's constitutional. And we will be defending the constitutionality."
© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune.
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/May/05022003/utah/53205.aspNew Initiative Law Is Taken to Court
By Rebecca Walsh
The Salt Lake Tribune
Before it even takes effect, changes to Utah's new initiative law are being challenged in court.
Gun control advocates filed suit this week in 3rd District Court against the state of Utah, Lt. Gov. Olene Walker and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff asking a judge to declare the statute unconstitutional -- or at least let them gather signatures to keep concealed weapons out of schools under the old initiative law.
"It is truly impossible, under the statutory scheme now in place, to place an initiative on Utah's ballot with a purely grass-roots, volunteer-based effort," the suit states. "This statutory scheme effectively eliminates citizens' initiatives."
Utah's Constitution specifically allows residents to make law if a majority of voters approve it. But the Constitution leaves the rules for initiatives up to state lawmakers. And during the 2003 Legislature, state legislators amended Utah's initiative rules to clamp down on citizen law-making.
Since then, groups ranging from the Humane Society of Utah to term-limit proponents have rushed to file petitions with the Lieutenant Governor's Office before the law takes effect Monday. So far, eight petitions have been filed and approved. Another two are pending.
Before this year, initiative backers had to collect signatures representing 10 percent of those who voted in the last general election in 20 of 29 counties. The Utah Supreme Court struck down that requirement last August, concluding the multi-county requirement placed an undue burden on citizen initiatives and violated the "one-person, one-vote" provisions of the Utah and U.S. Constitutions.
Lawmakers changed those rules to require petition supporters to gather signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in 26 of 29 state Senate districts. At the same time, lawmakers required that initiative leaders hold seven public meetings around the state, limited their time to gather signatures to one year and prohibited similar initiatives from being filed for two years.
The Utah Safe to Learn-Safe to Worship Coalition, also known as Safe Havens for Learning, which has fought for years to block concealed weapon permit-holders from entering schools and churches with their guns, filed a petition March 23.
When the initiative language was approved a week later, Safe Havens for Learning members were told they would have to follow the new rules.
That interpretation of the law, the group contends, unfairly applies the stringent new rules retroactively.
"The Legislature's charge is to facilitate the initiative process," said Dave Jones, spokesman for Safe Havens and a former state representative. "In fact, they are hindering it.
"If they could, they would eliminate initiatives from the Constitution altogether. They perceive that in a republican form of government it is the representatives' sole responsibility to generate and act on law. They don't want the public sticking its nose into the public's business," Jones said.
But Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts said the lieutenant governor is applying the new rules based on where initiative backers are in the process and Safe Havens isn't as far along as others.
"During the legislative process, everyone was aware there might be constitutional issues raised by this legislation," Roberts said. "My clients have taken a position that it's constitutional. And we will be defending the constitutionality."
© Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune.