Announcement of Lawsuit Appeal

Last August, our Coalition came together to advocate for our children. In the time since, we have written to our elected representatives. We have participated in local and state meetings. We have rallied on the steps of our Capitol. We have gathered together for respite and community.

One of our most important efforts together has been to challenge Utah’s laws related to public health governance and oversight. We were concerned that schools would be unable to maintain safe learning environments for our children, especially those who are high-risk. We were very disappointed to learn recently that our legal challenge had been dismissed in Utah’s District Court. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐥.

With Utah’s new public health laws, the State Legislature seriously curbed the ability of local health leaders to protect their communities with proven best practices. The Legislature took authority from local health leaders, placing oversight in the hands of political bodies. Even worse, the Legislature took overall authority for local health orders by granting itself the unchecked ability to overturn them. These laws disregard Utah's Constitution and harm our most vulnerable.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Even if our state is never impacted by COVID-19 variants again (though surges appear to be likely), the substantive issues of our case need to be addressed. Partisan bodies shouldn't be making public health decisions based on political expediency. We can't afford for local health orders to be treated as political footballs by our Legislature in the future.

We remain firm in our belief that we have standing to bring this legal challenge, and we are confident in the merits of this case. 𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲. And so, we will appeal its dismissal to protect our children and our community in the future.

See Fox 13's coverage of our appeal.