As a graduate of the S. J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, I am very disappointed in the op-ed recently published in The Salt Lake Tribune (“Utah lawmakers should change unfair laws”), which was written by Paul Cassell, a current professor at the College of Law who teaches criminal law and crime victims’ rights.
I do not disagree with his statement “citizen legislators must remain free to propose fixing unfair laws, whenever and however they learn about them.”
The issue with his op-ed is that it doesn’t even discuss the “under the table” actions of a few of these “citizen legislators,” including Kirk Cullimore, the Senate majority leader, who is a deputy of Senate President Stuart Adams, the senator who proposed the change in the law because it would help one of his relatives.
It also did not discuss that Cullimore was privately approached by Adams about the suggested change in the particular law; or that Cullimore discussed the language that should be included in the proposed revision of the subject law with the Adams’ relative’s attorneys, who assisted in drafting the revisions to the law in question.
The “Utah Way” for sure when it comes to many of the Republican citizen legislators in Utah. Ethics in legislation has never been one of their aims; and perhaps the professor should first consider ethical standards — like the fair and open discussion the change in the law should have had — the next time he voices his opinion.
Leonard W. Burningham, Salt Lake City
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