This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Attorney General Sean Reyes intends to aggressively attack the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby concerning the unconstitutionality of Amendment 3 ("Same-sex marriage supporters submit petition to Utah AG," Tribune, Jan. 14).
He is hiring outside help to the tune of $2 million because, well ... Actually, it's not clear why. Attorneys in the Utah A.G.s office have Supreme Court experience and it isn't even at the Supreme Court level yet.
Mr. Reyes also indicated that this is not unexpected, that whichever side lost would pursue it to the Supreme Court. So I conclude the state was woefully unprepared for this decision.
When the amendment passed 10 years ago it was almost certain it would be contested, probably all the way to the Supreme Court.
What were they doing in the A.G.s office during that time? Were the last two A.G.s too busy defending their apparently illegal behavior to have time to attend to their jobs? Now we won't prosecute the last A.G. despite the evidence that he broke the law and despite spending $2 million to investigate him.
We are fleeced over and over again by our state leaders, $2 million here, $13 million there. How much more do you want to put up with?
Brad Swedlund
Salt Lake City