A judge has issued her ruling in a lawsuit accusing the Utah State Legislature of illegally gerrymandering congressional districts to benefit Republicans, throwing out congressional maps passed by lawmakers.
Third District Court Judge Dianna Gibson sided with the League of Women Voters of Utah, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and others who challenged the legislature's override of Proposition 4, a citizen ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission to draw maps for Congress, legislature and state school board.
Judge Gibson decisively ruled that the citizen ballot initiative voters approved is law in Utah.
"Here, there is no question that Proposition 4 is overwhelmingly substantive legislation to reform and establish a statutory redistricting process," Judge Gibson wrote.
WATCH: Plaintiffs and supporters react to lawsuit decision
On the steps of the Matheson Courthouse on Monday night, plaintiffs in the lawsuit cheered and hugged.
"We feel vindicated," Malcolm Reid, a plaintiff in the lawsuit with his wife, Victoria, told the Scripps News Group in Salt Lake City. "We feel the court has respected and understood the state constitution and sent a very effective message to the legislature that the initiative process is something that needs to be respected and heeded and is the law of the land."
Victoria Reid called it an "incredible win for the voters of Utah."
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In a joint statement, Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Scripps News Group: "While disappointed by the court’s decision, we remain committed to protecting the voices of Utahns and upholding the Legislature’s state and federal constitutional authority to draw congressional districts. We will carefully review the ruling and consider our next steps."
Those next steps are expected to be the Utah Supreme Court, which previously ruled against the legislature in a prior appeal.
"Today’s decision is not a surprise after the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer. While I respect the role of the courts in our system, I continue to disagree with that decision," Governor Spencer Cox said in a statement late Monday.
The lawsuit centers around claims made by the League and MWEG that lawmakers improperly overrode the voter-approved Proposition 4, which created an independent redistricting commission. Lawmakers opted to make any maps created by that commission basically "advisory."
The legislature has insisted it has the sole constitutional power to modify citizen ballot initiatives and to draw lines in redistricting. Lawmakers favored a congressional map that split Democrat-heavy Salt Lake County into four pieces in a mix of urban and rural interests. The League and MWEG argued in their lawsuit that it is gerrymandering designed to give Republicans control.
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When Judge Gibson initially rejected the state's demand to throw out the lawsuit — but also dismissed some of the League and MWEG's claims that the legislature improperly overstepped its powers — the case wound up before the Utah Supreme Court on appeal. In their ruling, the justices unanimously overrode Judge Gibson in a decision that infuriated members of the legislature. That's what brought the whole case back to the lower court to be litigated.
In response to that ruling, the legislature then called themselves into an emergency special session, passed a proposed constitutional amendment that the Utah Supreme Court voided after the League and MWEG took them all back to court arguing the language appearing before voters was "misleading."
The Utah Supreme Court voided the amendment.
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In January, lawyers for the League and MWEG asked Judge Gibson for the legislature's maps to be thrown out entirely and new ones adopted.
The lawsuit has taken new importance in recent weeks as Texas has taken steps to re-draw its congressional maps before another census to help Republicans. California has pushed a similar measure to aid Democrats. Judge Gibson's ruling, which gave the Utah legislature a 30-day deadline to draw new maps, will likely put Utah at the center of the redistricting storm as President Trump has pushed new maps to help Republicans maintain a majority in Congress.
"I know there's other things coming and we have a lot of work to do still, but this is a good win for the voters of Utah and I think the legislature has to realize that," said Katharine Biele, the president of the League of Women Voters of Utah. "We want to work with them. We're ready to work with them hand-in-hand. They just have to settle down and do it."
Read the judge's ruling below, or click HERE to read in a separate window
This story was originally published by Ben Winslow with the Scripps News Group in Salt Lake City.
