Court Opinion

ID: 9782261
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 18:14:28.106382+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:54.289748
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Chief Justice,
concurring:
1 29 I join in the analysis of the majority opinion except for the comment contained in footnote 2, which appears to suggest that this court moves permanently in "lockstep" with the U.S. Supreme Court when construing due process under the Utah Constitution. There is no precedent for the view. The 1942 case referred to in the footnote, Untermyer v. State Tax Comm'n, 102 Utah 214, 129 P.2d 881 (Utah 1942), merely comments on the similarity in language between the state and federal provisions, and observes that therefore "[dlecisions of the Supreme Court of the United States on the due process clauses of the Federal Constitution are 'highly persuasive' as to the application of that clause of our state constitution." That we will look to federal due process analysis, as well as to that of other states, in interpreting the due process clause of Utah's constitution, is axiomatic, but it does not mean that we will routinely collapse state and federal analysis in cases where the parties make arguments for independent construction. In re Worthen, 926 P.2d 853 (Utah 1996), also cited by the majority, also makes that clear. It does say, as the majority notes, that "Utah's constitutional guarantee of due process is substantially the same as the due process guarantees contained [in the federal constitution]." But it then cites Utah cases in which Utah courts have delineated the requirements of due process for state constitutional purposes. In other words, there is a difference between acknowledging that state due process guarantees are the same as federal, and suggesting that this court may never interpret or apply the guarantees in a manner different from the federal courts' interpretation of the federal language. See In re Criminal Investigation, 754 P.2d 633, 647 (Utah 1988) (noting that scope of state constitutional privilege against self incrimina*1167tion is similar to federal, but that on specific questions, this court "will not necessarily follow the federal model"). Moreover, the majority's footnote also appears to collapse analysis under article I, section 11 with both state and federal due process, a notion that is highly peculiar in view of the fact that there is no federal counterpart to our "open courts" or "remedies" clause.