The Utah Senate has confirmed two more new justices to the Utah Supreme Court, capping off an era of major changes to the state’s highest court.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 26-2 to consent to the appointments of 5th District Judge Matthew Bell and civil litigator Michael Menssen. The two men will fill vacancies created by longtime Chief Justice Matthew Durrant’s retirement and the resignation of former Justice Diana Hagen amid controversy.
Bell and Menssen’s confirmations came after no floor debate and with relatively little controversy in the Senate chamber. Unlike the last pair of Utah Supreme Court nominees (when they questioned Jay Jorgensen’s residency qualifications), Utah Democrats didn’t put up a fight against Bell or Menssen’s appointments — though two, Sens. Nate Blouin and Kathleen Riebe, voted against both of them.
Riebe said her no vote was because of the “lack of diversity” and “lack of women” in the Legislature and the state’s highest court, which up until recently was made up of a majority of women. With Hagen’s resignation and the two-seat expansion, now Associate Chief Justice Jill Pohlman and Justice Paige Petersen are outnumbered by five men.
Riebe said only a handful of women applied, and she questioned if that’s because they don’t feel comfortable.
“I rise in support of women who don’t feel comfortable applying for these jobs, and I rise in support of women that don’t see themselves in our government,” Riebe said.
Wednesday’s Senate floor vote came after the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee, including its two democrats, voted unanimously on Monday to recommend both Bell and Menssen’s appointments to the full Senate.
The two confirmations complete what has been a near-total overhaul of the Utah Supreme Court, in part because of the Republican-controlled Utah Legislature moving earlier this year to expand the court from five to seven seats, as well as high turnover due to Durrant’s retirement in August, former Justice John Pearce’s retirement last year, and Hagen’s resignation in May.
Last fall, Cox appointed John Nielsen to take Pearce’s place on the court. And earlier this summer, Cox picked Jorgensen and Stephen Dent, both attorneys, to fill the two-seat expansion of the Supreme Court.
Now that all five open seats have been filled, Cox has appointed six out of seven justices sitting on the state’s highest court with all of the newest positions filled within the last year. Petersen was appointed by former Gov. Gary Herbert in 2017.
Bell and Menssen sat with their families on the sidelines of the Senate floor while senators cast their votes. Bell held his wife’s hand, and Menssen nodded and smiled as senators applauded him after the vote.
In a speech after his confirmation, Bell pledged to uphold the Utah and U.S. constitutions “without regard to political pressure, public opinion or personal preference.”
Menssen said that being “entrusted to interpret the Constitution and the laws of the state of Utah is a sacred responsibility.”
“I pledge that I will always give the position the work and the respect that it requires,” Menssen said.
Read the full report at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
