SB79: Denying Juvenile Courts Jurisdiction over Adults
This bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House 54-18. Libertas Institute supports this bill. Under current law in Utah, the state may treat legal adults as minors if the adult is between 18 and 21 years of age, and...
HB85: Private Attorneys General: Incentivizing the Protection of Liberty
This bill passed the House unanimously but was not considered by the Senate. Libertas Institute supports this bill. Several years ago, the Utah legislature enacted a law that prohibits the awarding of attorney’s fees under...
Can the Government Make Laws—and Punishments—Retroactive?
“No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.” —Utah Constitution, Article 1, Section 18 (see also Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution) A...
New Judicial Federalism: How Utah Can Avoid Recent Supreme Court Erosion of the Fourth Amendment
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision in the case of Navarette v. California which has potentially grave consequences for Fourth Amendment rights. The decision upheld the stop of a vehicle precipitated by an anonymous...
Potential Court Reform in Utah
As we explained in our asset forfeiture policy analysis, “policing for profit” is a problematic element in law enforcement. Similarly, there is a concern that local justice courts in Utah can prosecute and adjudicate for profit...
Procedural vs. Substantive: Who’s in Charge?
Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee reviewed and discussed House Bill 70, a proposal we’ve been working on for months. Whereas law enforcement officers had been concerned about the bill, some ended up supporting the...