Utah's newest Supreme Court justice, whose confirmation had seemed imperiled by partisan politics, has urged legislators to respect the independence of the judiciary.
Leonard Russon, 60, took his oath of office Friday before a crowd of family members, judges, lawyers, and elected officials who filled the usually sedate court chambers with cheers and applause."It's unbelievable I'm here," Russon said, the first justice to be appointed by a Republican governor in 34 years.
Just a month ago, Senate Republicans threatened to block any nomination to protest a selection process they characterized as dominated by insiders and judges. It was the latest symptom of a long-simmering feud between the Legislature and the judiciary.
Key senators wanted to revamp the nominating committee to reduce the role of judges and lawyers and to give lawmakers authority to remove a judge with a two-thirds vote.
But Russon mollified would-be detractors.
He assured a Senate screening panel that he was a staunch conservative and "a strict constructionist" who would focus on the narrow issues of the law rather than use rulings to effect social change. He sailed through his hearing, and the senators since have backed down.
On Friday, Russon insisted the judiciary must remain above politics.
"The judiciary must be free of all politics and independent of powers elsewhere," he said. "For it is the only power that can preserve our freedom."
Chief Justice Michael Zimmer-man, who made much the same point in his state-of-the-judiciary address at the beginning of the 1994 Legislature, agreed.
"This selection . . . seems to have begun in controversy and ended in accord," said the chief justice. "When it comes to the courts and justices, such labels as conservative and liberal are simplistic and invariably misleading."
A native Utahn, Russon earned his law degree from the University of Utah in 1962. He was an active Republican and a senior partner at the law firm of Hanson, Russon and Dunn for 19 years before taking the bench.
He was appointed to the 3rd District Court in 1984 by the late Gov. Scott Matheson, a Democrat. Former Republican Gov. Norm Bangerter elevated Russon to the Utah Court of Appeals in 1990.