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The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah has resigned, leaving some in the state's legal community questioning what is behind the departure.
Darcy Goddard, 38, resigned from her position after less than two years on the job, to "pursue other opportunities," ACLU executive director Karen McCreary confirmed Thursday.
"We will be conducting a national search for her replacement. We'll be continuing to pursue the projects and litigations that Darcy was involved in. We will continue to champion civil liberties in the state of Utah," McCreary said.
Goddard did not return multiple phone calls on Wednesday and Thursday seeking comment on the reasons behind her resignation.
Goddard pushed forward with several lawsuits on behalf of the ACLU during her tenure as legal director, which started in January 2010. Some of the notable lawsuits Goddard worked on included:
• A federal lawsuit filed in August alleging that the Salt Lake County Metro Jail unlawfully held an alleged undocumented immigrant for 39 days after he posted court-ordered bail. The ACLU brought the suit on behalf of Enrique Uroza, a 22-year-old Weber State University student who was arrested on forgery and theft charges and was believed by authorities to be in the country illegally.
• A federal lawsuit filed against the state claiming Utah's enforcement-only immigration bill violated the U.S. Constitution. Sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, HB497 was modeled after Arizona's law that sought to require local police to check legal status of those suspected of committing crimes.
• A legal challenge against the city of Ogden's gang injunction, implemented last fall, which makes it a crime for members of the Ogden Trece to gather in public. The ACLU filed a motion seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Weber County prosecutors that would declare the gang a public nuisance. Goddard spoke out against the injunction, saying it didn't specify how gang members would be identified by law enforcement and that the measure infringed on peoples' civil rights.
Goddard's sudden departure left colleagues and some clients surprised.
Brian Barnard said he was surprised to receive an e-mail from Goddard saying she would no longer be working on a case the two were pursuing in federal court against the Utah Department of Transportation. The ACLU and Barnard teamed up to file suit against UDOT on behalf of an environmental youth group called iMatter. The group claims in its lawsuit that UDOT put unconstitutional restrictions on a Marade — march and parade — designed to bring attention to climate change earlier this year. That case is pending.
Barnard praised Goddard's work for aggressively pursuing lawsuits — something her predecessors at the ACLU of Utah weren't doing with the same intensity as Goddard did, he said.
"The ACLU must aggressively pursue lawsuits to avoid being a paper tiger," Barnard said. "When Darcy Goddard became legal director last year, I saw hope for change. She was starting to get the organization back on track. She is a competent litigator not afraid to file and aggressively pursue lawsuits when necessary. Her abrupt departure does not speak well for the organization. I am afraid the Utah ACLU will again fall back to being a social group that just talks and is afraid to file lawsuits when necessary to end problems and seek redress."
"Such a resignation, if that is what happened, is a major blow," Barnard added. "The ACLU of Utah needs to re-examine what it is and what it is doing. The ACLU has some major explaining to do to its members as to why such a competent and professional attorney would suddenly 'resign.' "
Several members of the ACLU's board of directors declined to comment on Goddard's resignation, referring all questions to McCreary.
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