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Utah Senate confirms John Pierce to Supreme Court
Summary
In a unanimous consent vote during a December 2015 extraordinary session, the Utah Senate confirmed John Pierce to the Utah Supreme Court. Pierce thanked the Senate, introduced family members and pledged to apply statutes' plain language evenly and to serve a fair and independent judiciary.
The Utah State Senate consented to Gov. Gary R. Herbert’s appointment of John Pierce to the Utah Supreme Court during a ninth extraordinary session called in December 2015. The Senate recorded "With 21 votes cast in favor, 0 nays, and 8 being absent," and President Niederhauser announced the confirmation.
Senator Scott K. Jenkins, who chaired the Senate judicial confirmation committee, recommended Pierce after meeting him and moved that the Senate consent to the appointment. "He's a wonderful individual, well qualified to be in this position, and he's got a wonderful family that supports," Jenkins said during the committee report.
After the vote, the Senate resolved into a Committee of the Whole so Pierce could speak. At the podium, Pierce introduced family members and described the confirmation process as intense; he pledged to the body to "apply the law in an even handed and predictable manner" and to work to provide Utahns "a judiciary that is fair, that is open, that is independent, and that is efficient." He thanked the Senate for its support and said he felt "the great weight of your expectations and vow[ed] to serve the people of Utah to the very best of my abilities."
The Senate dissolved the Committee of the Whole later in the session. No further formal action related to the appointment was recorded during this extraordinary session.
