In the recently concluded 2024 general session, the Utah Legislature passed, and the governor signed, SB57 (Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act), and it went into effect the following day. This law offends the structure of our government designed by the founders in the U.S. Constitution and ratified by the people.
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says that laws made under the authority of the federal government are the supreme law of the land, “any Thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” The Constitution of the state of Utah, Article I, Section 3, affirms this priority saying, “... and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.” And indeed, our legislators’ oath of office is to “support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
SB57 replaces the first principle of loyalty to the United States, with grudging, defensive, and suspicious references to the Tenth Amendment and the police powers which everyone understands to be inherent in any government.
“Ask what you can do for your country” becomes, “we’ll do what we absolutely have to but we don’t like it.” This disrespectful posture toward the federal government is inimical to the constitutional structure. It forgets about the old value of comity.
The Supremacy Clause gives the federal government’s laws and actions a fair presumption of validity. It is not for our Legislature to define the operation and extent of the Supremacy Clause. The Legislature must wait until the judicial branch decides any dispute. The Legislature must not purport to impose a duty on state and local officers which does not exist until the presumptively valid federal law or rule is held invalid. The so-called Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act is a misnomer. It is the Utah False Sovereignty Act.
Robert C. Steiner, Salt Lake City
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