Opinion ID: 4283041
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: procedure and jurisdiction

Text: SB54 was signed into law on March 10, 2014, and the URP filed suit later that year seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment that the law was unconstitutional as applied to the URP (the “First Lawsuit”). The Constitutional Party of Utah (“CPU”) joined the First Lawsuit, challenging the Signature Requirement in particular. In the First Lawsuit, the district court denied the URP and the CPU a preliminary injunction, ruling that none of the alleged constitutional burdens were severe save for the Unaffiliated Voter Provision, which was not yet ripe for review. Utah Republican Party v. Herbert, 133 F. Supp. 3d 1337 (D. Utah 2015) (“URP I”). Once the URP notified the state that it intended to become a QPP, that issue ripened and the district court granted the URP summary judgment invalidating the Unaffiliated Voter Provision. Utah Republican Party v. Herbert, 144 F. Supp. 3d 1263, 1278–82 (D. Utah 2015) (“URP II”). 5 In doing so, the court held that the Unaffiliated Voter Provision imposed a severe burden on the URP’s associational rights and the State had no compelling interest to justify that burden. Id. The practical effect of the First Lawsuit, then, was to invalidate SB54’s Unaffiliated Voter Provision, see id., while upholding the Signature Requirement, the Either or Both Provision, and all other aspects of SB54, see id.; URP I, 133 F. Supp. 3d 1337. The rulings in the First Lawsuit are not before us on appeal.3
After the First Lawsuit, the URP announced that it would permit nomination only by caucus. The URP’s justification for doing so was that it interpreted the Either or Both Provision as offering the political party (rather than the candidates) the option to allow nomination by either the signature gathering method, or the convention method, or both. The Lieutenant Governor responded that it was the State’s position that under SB54 it is the party member’s choice, not the party’s, whether to pursue the nomination using the signature gathering method, the convention method, or both. Following this interpretation by the Lieutenant Governor, the URP filed this suit in the United States District Court for the District of Utah seeking declaratory and injunctive relief that SB54 was unconstitutional. The phrasing of its Complaint was similar to the Complaint filed in the First Lawsuit. See Utah Republican Party v. 3 The first lawsuit is, however, relevant to the present appeal in part because the URP argues the State took positions during that lawsuit that it should be judicially estopped from retracting in this action. 6 Cox, 177 F. Supp. 3d 1343, 1354 (D. Utah 2016) (“URP III”) (noting similarities). The party reiterated its argument that SB54 violated its freedom of association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and added a claim that the State should be judicially estopped from advancing an interpretation of the Either or Both Provision that differed from the one it advanced in the First Lawsuit. Shortly thereafter the Utah Democratic Party (“UDP”) intervened as co-plaintiff to defend against the possibility that portions of SB54 would apply to one political party but not the other, and to complain that the URP’s bylaws and constitution violated SB54. In February of 2016, the district court certified two questions of state law to the Utah Supreme Court. The first requested that court’s interpretation of the Either or Both Provision, asking whether that provision meant the candidate member or the party had the right to choose which—or both—of the qualification processes to use. See Utah Republican Party v. Cox, 178 F. Supp. 3d 1150, 1165 (D. Utah 2016) (“URP IV”) (discussing certification). The Utah Supreme Court replied that the Either or Both Provision allows the candidate member, not the party, to select which of those two paths to follow in an effort to be certified to the primary ballot. Utah Republican Party v. Cox, 373 P.3d 1286, 1287 (Utah 2016). The second question, certified at the request of the UDP, was what would happen if a party elects to become a QPP under Utah law, but fails to comply with the requirements of that status. URP IV, 178 F. Supp. 3d at 1166. The Utah Supreme Court declined to answer the second question, finding it not ripe for review because it was not yet clear whether the URP was going to comply with SB54. Cox, 373 P.3d at 1288. 7 While waiting for those answers from the Utah Supreme Court, the UDP and the State filed motions in federal court for judgment on the pleadings, and the URP filed for partial summary judgment on its claims relating to the Signature Requirement. On April 6, 2016, the district court ruled that (1) the URP’s claims were not barred by claim preclusion, issue preclusion, or claim splitting, (2) the State should not be judicially estopped from advancing its interpretation of the Either or Both Provision, and (3) the Signature Requirement was valid because it did not present a severe burden to the URP. URP III, 177 F. Supp. 3d at 1356, 1362, 1365. The district court granted summary judgment for the State on the judicial estoppel issue and also as to the signature requirements pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f). Id. After the Utah Supreme Court answered the certified questions, the district court ruled on the remaining issues relating to the Either or Both Provision. It first held that the URP was not precluded from challenging the constitutionality of the Either or Both Provision, URP IV, 178 F. Supp. 3d at 1170, and that the Either or Both Provision—as interpreted by the Utah Supreme Court—did not infringe on the URP’s First Amendment right of association, id. at 1179. Finally, the court rejected the URP’s claim that SB54 was the result of impermissible viewpoint discrimination, and then the court granted summary judgment for the State. Id. at 1187. URP timely appealed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. The UDP subsequently cross-appealed, challenging the district court’s denial of judgment on the pleadings based on assertions of claim preclusion, issue preclusion, and claim 8 splitting, and also the portions of the district court’s opinion which purport to invalidate the URP’s bylaws and constitution to the extent those provisions conflict with SB54. We consolidated the related appeals, and exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.4