Post by Logan on Jan 29, 2016 22:01:05 GMT -6
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A legal consulting team hired by the state told lawmakers this week that they've devised a credible way to sue the federal government to get the state control over public lands, but Gov. Gary Herbert said the potential $14 million price tag is making some state officials pause.
"There is a good, sound case here," attorney John Howard told lawmakers, according to The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/1QLD3wb). "It's a strong, arguable case with constitutional principles and rooted in constitutional law."
Supporters of the state's push to seize management of federal lands that make up two-thirds of the land in Utah say the state's legal claim lies in the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah's statehood.
But critics have disputed that argument, and the Legislature's own attorneys warned in 2012 that the demand and any attempt to enforce it would likely be found unconstitutional.
Read more: bigstory.ap.org/article/4ee1fb69a841452e8da480cb89ab9771/utah-lawmakers-consider-14-million-public-lands-lawsuit
"There is a good, sound case here," attorney John Howard told lawmakers, according to The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/1QLD3wb). "It's a strong, arguable case with constitutional principles and rooted in constitutional law."
Supporters of the state's push to seize management of federal lands that make up two-thirds of the land in Utah say the state's legal claim lies in the Utah Enabling Act, which led to Utah's statehood.
But critics have disputed that argument, and the Legislature's own attorneys warned in 2012 that the demand and any attempt to enforce it would likely be found unconstitutional.
Read more: bigstory.ap.org/article/4ee1fb69a841452e8da480cb89ab9771/utah-lawmakers-consider-14-million-public-lands-lawsuit