A federal judge signed an order Monday
blocking implementation of a Utah law prohibiting some Bureau of Land
Management and Forest Service employees from
enforcing state laws anywhere in Utah after the U.S. Department of Justice argued the law was unconstitutional.
HB155,
sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, makes it a class B misdemeanor,
punishable by a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, for federal
employees who are not certified law enforcement officers to enforce any
state law within Utah. In a filing Monday, the Justice Department said
that Congress has the authority to make laws governing federal lands
and that the Utah Legislature does not have the power to overturn or
supersede those laws and rules. The federal regulations governing the officers and land have been written to incorporate state laws and local ordinances. After a conference call with attorneys for the
state and federal governments, Judge David Nuffer signed a temporary
restraining order blocking the law from taking effect until a June
hearing on a longer-term injunction. The law had been scheduled to kick
in Tuesday. Ultimately, the Justice Department is asking the judge to strike down the law as unconstitutional. "BLM and Forest Service employees who operate
in the State of Utah will subject themselves to potential criminal
penalties under state law by continuing to perform the duties required
of them under federal law," the federal government wrote in the brief.
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