In the November 2024 elections, the Utah Legislature pushed two amendments of the state constitution onto the ballot so sloppily that they were voided by the Utah Supreme Court. Utah’s voters, the court ruled, have the right to truthful ballot language and proper notice for proposed constitutional amendments.
With the Utah legislative session underway, voters may feel concerned about additional disrespect for the authority and consequence of our state constitution and the rights it protects for the people.
State constitutions have always been critical to our American government. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who worked together to draft the Declaration of Independence, were involved in writing the constitutions of Virginia and Massachusetts while following the constitutional goings-on in other states.
State constitutions were where Americans tested separation of powers; bicameral legislature, a chief executive, and a judiciary; checks and balances; and bills of rights. It is not happenstance that these structures were tested before inclusion in the U.S. Constitution: Nearly all of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 had already participated in the debating and writing of state constitutions.
Great Britain has no written constitution, so the writing of first state and then federal constitutions was a radical and historic innovation. And this innovation continues today, as states continue to serve as “laboratories of democracy,” with many state constitutions offering additional rights and protections beyond those guaranteed in the federal constitution.
State constitutions were also where Americans tested the processes of amendment. When Massachusetts sent its draft constitution to the voters at town meetings in 1778, the voters overwhelmingly rejected it. One town protested the lack of “sufficient provision for any alteration or amendment of this Constitution,” except by the Legislature itself. “[I]t appears to us, at least, of the highest importance, that a door should be left open for the people to move in this matter,” residents said, without which the people would only be able to change the government through “commotions, mobs, bloodshed and Civil War.”
In Utah, this predicted tension has played out. The Utah Legislature’s disregard for that “door” was displayed when overturning Prop 4, the fair districting ballot initiative passed in 2018. But instead of “commotions, mobs, bloodshed and Civil War,” Utah’s voters went to court, culminating in a unanimous decision from the Utah Supreme Court in League of Women Voters v. Utah State Legislature that reinforced the right of Utahns to “alter or reform” their government through the initiative process. “Under our state constitution,” the Utah Supreme Court wrote, “the people’s legislative power is equal to the Legislature’s.”
The “alter” language in the Utah Constitution is reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence, which — after declaring the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — proclaims that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed” who have “the right of the people to alter or abolish” said government.
Once our constitutional republic was established, the need to abolish the government disappeared, so long as the right to alter or reform it remained. State after state included “alter or reform” clauses in their state constitutions.
Unfortunately the Utah Legislature responded to the state Supreme Court’s affirmation of the people’s right to alter or reform with a rushed attempt to amend the state constitution to allow the Legislature to change citizen-passed ballot initiatives with virtually no limitation. Struck down by the Utah Supreme Court, this disregard for the authority of the state constitution and the voters’ right to alter or reform their government should not rear its head during this legislative session.
State constitutions deserve this respect, particularly by members of the Legislature. Voters deserve this respect. Popular sovereignty, a foundation of the American experiment, must be observed. Amendments must be thoroughly and thoughtfully considered, presented in clear and understandable language, and not rushed through with reckless partisanship.
(Lisa R. Halverson) Lisa R. Halverson is a Civics Education Research Fellow at Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies.
Lisa R. Halverson is a Civics Education Research Fellow at Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies. She teaches “American National Government,” “Foundations of Civic Education” and “Women in American Political Thought” at UVU. Lisa also serves as researcher and writer for Mormon Women for Ethical Government. The author does not speak on behalf of, nor do the views expressed necessarily represent, Utah Valley University or Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
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