In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln famously stated that ours is a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.” The July 11 decision from the Utah Supreme Court overwhelmingly reaffirms this principle of self-governance.
The justices delivered a tremendous victory in Utah’s ongoing fight against partisan gerrymandering by issuing a ruling that will reverberate into the future for all those who seek to take a hand in shaping their government. As recent polling suggests, Utahns feel that our elected leaders do not listen to voters, so we must use this ruling to make sure that politicians start doing what they are asked to do and are held accountable to the people they serve.
How do we do that? By supporting the framework originally established under the 2018 initiative banning partisan gerrymandering and creating an independent commission to draw district maps using transparent and fair rules instead of the Legislature, which has consistently used self serving, back-room politicking.
In 2018, hundreds of thousands of Utahns signed petitions and voted in favor of the citizen-led initiative Proposition 4, popularly known as “Better Boundaries.” Using their coequal legislative power granted by the Utah Constitution, citizens created an independent redistricting commission and placed limits on the power of the state legislature to be involved with redistricting, specifically prohibiting partisan gerrymandering.
The Legislature got involved anyway. Instead of listening to the clear voice of the people, lawmakers repealed Proposition 4 and replaced it with SB200 during the 2020 legislative session. The bill reduced the independent commission to a purely advisory role that could be ignored, removed “fair map” standards imposed on lawmakers (including the partisan gerrymandering restrictions) and gutted essentially all enforcement mechanisms. Better Utah opposed SB200 for removing accountability and transparency from the redistricting process and effectuating a power grab at the expense of the people.
At the time, we were disappointed more people did not support our efforts to oppose SB200. Although billed as a compromise, SB200 was nothing more than a legislative attempt to disenfranchise Utahns and our right to reform our own government. Indeed, the Legislature did exactly what Utahns feared: They replaced the idea of the voters choosing their elected officials with elected officials choosing their voters.
On July 11, the Utah Supreme Court addressed the question of whether the Legislature has the power to repeal and replace citizen initiatives that seek to reform government. The answer was a clear no. Indeed, the Court wholeheartedly rejected the idea that the Legislature, at its whim, can ignore the people.
The justices looked not only to the initiative power enshrined in the Utah Constitution, but also to its Declaration of Rights, which states that “[a]ll political power is inherent in the people … and they have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.”
Breathing life into this “Alter or Reform Clause,” the Court unanimously held “that when Utahns exercise their right to reform the government through a citizen initiative, their exercise of those rights is protected from government infringement.”
This decision is a vindication for every Utahn that spoke up and fought back against the repeal and replacement of Proposition 4, which altered and reformed the state’s redistricting structures and processes. And yet, amazingly, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams decried the Court affirming the people’s power as “one of the worst outcomes we’ve ever seen from the Utah Supreme Court.”
As jaw dropping as a statement like that may seem, those of us who have followed legislative leadership for a while are not surprised. The hubris needed to ignore the people is bad enough, but for legislative “leadership” to attack the only branch of our government willing to stand up for the constitutional rights of the people is, at best, disappointing.
Utahns of every background — regardless of their vote on Proposition 4 — should celebrate this decision and the rights that are enshrined in our constitution. In most instances, we can and should exercise our political power through our elected representatives. Even then, however, politicians do not hold all the power for themselves. In the early days of our state, the people reserved the right to alter or reform their government directly through the initiative power, “especially when they were at odds in some respect with their elected representatives.” That right, though rarely exercised, should not and cannot be ignored by elected officials, especially when they are engaged in self-dealing.
Of course, this victory is only one step in a long journey towards eliminating partisan gerrymandering in Utah. Now, all Utahns wait to see how the Court’s decision affects maps for the United States House of Representatives, Utah’s House and Senate and other districts.
The real question, though, is whether this is all Utahns want. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed a power long dormant in our state, and with that power now awake, what else will Utahns do to make its government once again a government of the people, by the people and for the people?
With anticipation, we will see.
Jeff Merchant is executive director at Alliance for a Better Utah.
Jeff Merchant is executive director at Alliance for a Better Utah, a nonprofit that seeks to hold politicians accountable and advocates for progressive policies that make Utah an even better place.
Chase Thomas is senior policy advisor at Alliance for a Better Utah.
Chase Thomas is senior policy advisor at Alliance for a Better Utah.
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