Tag: equal protection

Failed USBOE Candidate’s Viewpoint Discrimination Claim Fails the Ron Swanson Test

Curt Bentley

Breck England is complaining about viewpoint discrimination, and he is completely right…and totally wrong.   In the latest strange development in Utah’s political litigation industry, Breck England, an unsuccessful candidate for the Utah State Board of Education (USBOE), has sued the members of the USBOE nominating committee, Governor Herbert, and Lt. Governor Cox for allegedly engaging in discrimination in violation of his constitutional rights (a copy of the complaint is embedded below). The basis for England’s claim is that, during vetting process of state school board candidates, some candidates are favored…

Thoughts on the Latest in the Utah Same Sex Marriage Litigation

Curt Bentley

People following the litigation over same sex marriage in Utah have gotten good taste of the real thing: opposing sides villainizing each other, long periods of no progress followed by short bursts of action, and a convoluted procedural path that both sides try to reduce to an unrealistically clear arc ending conveniently in their absolute victory. Joking  aside (there was a *little* bit of humor there), this has been an action-packed week, and people can be forgiven for being a more than a little confused about where we are at this…

5 Thoughts on the Kitchen v. Herbert Argument

Curt Bentley

For those who somehow didn’t hear, yesterday was the oral argument in the Kitchen v. Herbert appeal at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Since there are few things I enjoy doing more than listening to a well-argued appeal, I listened to the arguments online yesterday afternoon and have a few thoughts that I thought I would throw out there for anyone who’s interested.  If you’re inclined to listen to the argument yourself, you can find an MP3 here. (1) The State of Utah and the Plaintiffs are…