Court Opinion

ID: 9541276
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:24:03.234626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:02:41.969762
License: Public Domain

HALL, Chief Justice
(concurring and dissenting):
I concur in the judgment of the Court that Senate confirmation of supreme court, district court and circuit court judges is unconstitutional and dissent from that portion of the judgment that sanctions Senate confirmation of juvenile court judges.
In the prior case of Matheson v. Ferry1 (hereinafter Matheson I), the Court decided that Senate confirmation of gubernatorial judicial appointments in the context of the existing statutory method of judicial selection infringes upon the separation of powers doctrine in violation of Article V, § 1 of the Constitution of Utah. In his concurring opinion in that case, Justice Stewart also concluded that Senate confirmation of gubernatorial appointees to the offices of justice of the supreme court and judges of the district and circuit courts is unconstitutional under the present method of selecting judges. However, he reached that conclusion on the somewhat different ground that since supreme, district and circuit court judges hold state offices and must therefore stand for election, subject to contest, Senate confirmation is in violation of Article VIII, § 3 and Article V, § 1, as amplified by Article VII, § 10 of the Constitution of Utah, which specifies when the Senate may confirm appointees to state offices.
In the instant case, the trial judge viewed the Court’s decision in Matheson I as binding upon him and as dispositive of the issues presented. He thereupon declared Senate confirmation of all judicial appointments, including those made to the juvenile court, unconstitutional. In further support of his judgment as it pertains to Senate confirmation of gubernatorial appointments to the supreme, district and circuit courts, he adopted and relied upon the position taken by Justice Stewart in his concurring opinion in Matheson I. Thereupon, he concluded that Senate confirmation of gubernatorial judicial appointees that must stand election contravenes Article VII, § 10 of the Constitution of Utah, and that the statutes so providing constitute an unconstitutional grant of power to the Senate.
The issue presented by this appeal differs from the issues resolved in Matheson I only in that the Legislature has seen fit to enact a judicial nominating commission statute which no longer provides for legislative participation in the selection of the members of any of the judicial nominating commissions.2
I conclude, as did the trial court, that deletion of legislative representation on judicial nominating commissions does not significantly alter or affect the unconstitution*250al control aspect of Senate confirmation of judicial appointments, which contravenes the separation of powers doctrine set forth in Article V, § 1 of the Constitution of Utah. This Court was of the same opinion at the time of its ruling in Matheson I. This is evidenced by the fact that the Court affirmed the trial court in striking down as unconstitutional each of “the 1981 ‘advice and consent’ amendments” which required Senate confirmation of all judicial appointments, including circuit and juvenile court appointments.3 This the Court did notwithstanding the further fact that the Legislature had never had any representation on circuit and juvenile court nominating commissions, its representation being only provided for on supreme and district court nominating commissions.4 It is thus to be seen that the Court in Matheson I made two separate and distinct constitutional determinations, neither of which was conditional or dependent upon the other, nor were they cumulative in nature. Simply stated, Matheson I stands for the proposition that the Legislature may share in the judicial appointment process, but that it may not control the process.
I further conclude, as did the trial court, 1) that the decision of this Court in Mathe-son I specifically and unequivocally supports the judgment that Senate confirmation of all judicial appointments, including those made to the juvenile court, are viola-tive of the separation of powers doctrine as espoused in Article V, § 1 of the Constitution of Utah, and 2) that Article VII, § 10 of the Constitution of Utah precludes Senate confirmation of appointees to the elective state office of supreme court justice and the offices of circuit and district judges.
With the exception of the severability issue, I would affirm the judgment of the trial court, in toto.

. Utah, 641 P.2d 674 (1982).

. U.C.A., 1953, § 20-1-7.3, as enacted by Laws of Utah 1982.

. Set out verbatim in notes 2, 3 and 4, Mathe-son I.

. As acknowledged by the Court in Matheson I, note 1.