Utah Attorney General Jan Graham met Thursday with Gov. Mike Leavitt to discuss "a number of legal issues," including alternative legal strategies to filing an amicus curiae - friend-of-the-court - brief in a Vermont same-sex marriage case.
The Leavitt-Graham relationship has been strained at times, Graham admits. Barbs have been exchanged between the two over the years on issues ranging from the Vermont case to domestic violence. Leavitt has even questioned whether or not Graham's administration constitutes "a fourth branch of government," working independently - and sometimes at odds - with the governor's office.In spite of that, Graham characterized Thursday's meeting as "positive and productive."
She said the two of them looked at alternatives to the amicus brief in cases like that in Vermont, especially working more closely with attorneys general nationwide to "get something filed and drafted by the states rather than by someone on the outside, by some kind of activist group."
Though no decisions were made during the meeting, Graham said that both she and Leavitt are committed to moving forward and working cooperatively together.
"We are good at getting over our differences," she said. "We've agreed to continue talking. There's no question whatsoever that we have a good working relationship."