A progressive advocacy group is calling for Utah Supreme Court Justice Michael Menssen to step aside from the state’s ongoing anti-gerrymandering court battle. Alliance for a Better Utah urged Justice Menssen to recuse himself from the case involving Utah’s congressional maps and Proposition 4 litigation, after reports surfaced that he signed a petition to repeal Utah’s 2018 voter-approved independent redistricting law.
The nonprofit’s demand comes after ABC4 reported Justice Menssen’s name appeared on a public list of Utahns who signed a petition earlier this year, circulated by the Utah Republican Party. This petition sought to repeal Proposition 4, but its supporters failed to gather enough signatures to place the question on this year’s ballot. According to the list, Justice Menssen signed the petition on February 12, about seven months before Governor Spencer Cox appointed him to the Utah Supreme Court. At the time of signing, Menssen was a civil litigator and partner at the firm Mayer Brown.
Katie Matheson, executive director of Alliance for a Better Utah, stated Wednesday, “As a private citizen, Michael Menssen had every right to sign that petition. But he is not a private citizen anymore.” Matheson explained that Justice Menssen now sits on the court deciding the very lawsuit seeking to enforce Proposition 4, and has already heard arguments. She asserted that when a judge has personally sided with one position in a dispute, the public can reasonably question their impartiality.
Earlier this month, Justice Menssen was on the bench when the Utah Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the redistricting case, along with two others, should be moved from a district court judge to a three-judge panel created by the Utah Legislature this year. This panel was specifically designed to hear constitutional challenges to state laws. Unlike Justice John Nielsen, who recused himself from two of those hearings—an abortion case and the redistricting case—due to his past work as a private attorney for Pro-Life Utah in 2022 and the Utah Republican Party in a previous appeal related to the anti-gerrymandering lawsuit, Justice Menssen remained on the bench.
A court spokesperson, in a statement to Utah News Dispatch on Wednesday, affirmed that “The normal standards and procedures for recusal decisions have been considered and followed.”
Alliance for a Better Utah cited a Utah code of judicial conduct rule that requires judges to disqualify themselves from any proceeding where their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Matheson clarified the group’s stance, saying, “This is not about whether Justice Menssen is a capable lawyer or a decent person. It is about whether Utahns can trust the outcome.”
The nonprofit is calling for Justice Menssen to recuse himself before the Utah Supreme Court issues its ruling on the constitutionality of the three-judge panel. Additionally, Alliance for a Better Utah is asking the court to "explain publicly how his recusal was evaluated and why he chose not to recuse before hearing the arguments.” Matheson emphasized, “Utahns passed Proposition 4 because they wanted fair maps drawn under fair rules. They deserve fair judges deciding whether those rules get followed.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, other groups, including Better Boundaries—which successfully advocated for Proposition 4 in 2018—and the plaintiffs in the redistricting case, had not yet offered their opinions on the call for Justice Menssen’s recusal.
