State supreme courts seldom have cause to strike down a federal law, but a pair of applications to the Utah State Bar has set the stage for the Utah Supreme Court to protect our state’s independent judiciary from federal encroachment. By declining to apply an overreaching federal law, the Utah Supreme Court can vindicate important principles of federalism and affirm the separation of powers among Utah’s branches of government.
The applications for membership in the Utah State Bar come from two apparently qualified applicants who are Americans but for lack of a passport. These applicants are Dreamers, immigrants who were brought into the United States as children.