“Law Day” prompted the U Hinckley Institute of Politics to invite three prominent Utahns to the U to discuss topics ranging from Abraham Lincoln to immigration.
Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, Utah Sen. Ross Romero and Christine Durham, chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court, met Monday to participate in a forum titled “The Promise of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Scott Matheson Jr., a professor in the U S.J. Quinney College of Law who served as moderator, questioned the participants representing each of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, concerning the differences between each of the governmental bodies.
“There certainly are tensions between the legislative and the executive branch because ultimately, in a conflict over the meaning of constitutional language, the courts have the final say,” Durham said. “That, as you can imagine, makes us very unpopular on the Hill with our colleagues in both the executive and legislative branches from time to time.”
The three acknowledged their differences in a lighthearted manner, but also spoke of the camaraderie involved in making the government function from day to day.
“Although there is a tension, albeit a healthy one, there is a lot of collaboration between the branches,” Herbert said.
Law Day, initially established by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, has become an annual celebration of the law throughout the United States. This year, however, lawyers and politicians are commemorating the bicentennial of the birth of former Lincoln.
“Abraham Lincoln really is a hero in government and politics,” Herbert said. “He’s revered because of his courage, because of his integrity. He was the leader of the nation at a difficult time. During his own tenure as president, he wasn’t very popular.”
The influence Lincoln had on not only saving the nation from being divided, but on the attitude of the citizens toward the federal government was huge, Durham said, adding that after Lincoln, citizens “could look to the federal government for a protection of their rights.”
“Lincoln took a pretty firm hand in the legislation of his day,” Romero said. “He took hold of some weighty decisions and executed them from his office. The branches have equaled out since his time.”
Students and guests were allowed to pose questions to the panelists, and soon the talk turned to immigration concerns in light of recent legislation.
“Immigration is a significant issue for Utah,” Herbert said. “We have a lot of immigration because there have historically been jobs here and the immigrants say that they feel safe, which speaks a lot of our citizens.”
The discussion was in response to a question concerning Senate Bill 81, which was passed in 2008 and enables any police officer to be cross-deputized as a federal immigration officer. It will also require, starting July 1, that all government-funded health agencies check resident status of all patients.
“The United States prides itself on being a defender of human rights and we pride ourselves on being a law-based society where the law is important,” Durham said. “However, there is no other civilized, western, industrialized nation on the face of the earth that invests fewer of its resources in access to justice.”
With all the discussion, the three panelists agreed that the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence do, in fact, offer protection for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“I hope everyone appreciates the genius of our Constitution and the separation of the powers,” Herbert said. “It really is there to fulfill the dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The genius is…the checks and balances that come, that with the will of the people we do eventually get it right. I have a lot of faith in you folks, you’re the rising generation, and whatever we’ve got8212;good, bad or ugly8212;we’re turning it over to you.”