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Sponsor seeks power to vacate writs of mandamus; legal groups warn of separation-of-powers risk
Summary
Senate Bill 21 would allow specified executive and legislative leaders to jointly vacate a writ of mandamus ordering a public official to take ministerial actions, a proposal the sponsor called a narrow check on extreme court orders.
Senator Barry Usher presented Senate Bill 21 to the House Judiciary Committee, saying the bill would let a combination of executive and legislative leaders vacate a writ of mandamus that orders a public official to perform ministerial duties.
Usher said the bill was prompted by a disputed episode last session in which a court ordered the governor and secretary of state to take actions related to a vetoed bill; Usher said that order compelled officials to do things they could not physically perform and described the court action as an overreach. “Sometimes humans make errors, and when you're at the highest court and you can't go anywhere else, there's gotta be a relief…
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