Utah

Judge amends order that foster child be removed from married lesbian couple

Updated: In a Tuesday ruling that apparently took the state Division of Child and Family Services by surprise, a Utah judge said a baby must be removed from a licensed foster home because the married couple in the home are not heterosexual. There has been no issue concerning the quality…

Nov 12, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Judge temporarily preserves federal funds flowing to Planned Parenthood in Utah

A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary restraining order that bars Utah’s governor from defunding Planned Parenthood in the state. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said a decision would be issued later, but he refused to lift the order that keeps federal funds flowing through the state to Planned…

Oct 16, 2015 9:23 AM CDT

Wal-Mart employees fired for standing their ground against customers can sue, Utah court rules

Updated: Wal-Mart employees who don’t follow the company’s non-resistance policy when facing serious, imminent bodily harm by violent customers are protected from termination by state law, Utah’s top court has ruled. On Thursday, the Utah Supreme Court held that five employees who were fired for violating Wal-Mart’s policy of non-resistance…

Sep 21, 2015 11:15 AM CDT

Leader of fundamentalist church employed 1,400 in violation of wage law, feds say

The U.S. Department of Labor is bringing a civil enforcement action against the brother of imprisoned church leader Warren Jeffs. It contends that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Lyle Jeffs and another defendant cheated some 1,400 children and adults out of nearly two years’ worth of…

Sep 11, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Federal judge tells state to put same-sex spouses on birth certificate

Saying that there is no good argument for doing otherwise, a federal judge in Utah has ordered state officials to list both members of a married same-sex couple on the birth certificate for their child. Claiming that fatherhood was a “biological impossibility” for one woman, state officials had sought to…

Jul 16, 2015 2:00 PM CDT

Travelers beware: Tourist excesses are sparking new laws and stricter enforcement

It might seem like harmless fun. But throughout the world travelers need to beware of following impulses: They face an increased likelihood of fines or even jail for misbehavior as an epidemic of injuries, damage and violations of local standards caused by tourists’ antics are sparking new laws and stricter…

Jul 13, 2015 1:42 PM CDT

Charges change against former Utah AG Shurtleff; pay-to-play, law firm counts are dropped

Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff faces fewer criminal charges as a result of an amended filing by prosecutors on Monday. Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings dropped three bribery counts that alleged a pay-to-play scheme, but added other charges, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Shurtleff’s lawyer, Richard Van Wagoner, applauded…

Jun 16, 2015 10:04 AM CDT

Murderer who sent razor blade to judge won’t be charged; it was an accident

When a Utah judge received a razor blade in April along with a pro se filing from convicted murderer Ramon Somoza, an investigation ensued. But the 35-year-old won’t be charged with any new crime, prosecuting attorney Chad Grunander told the Salt Lake Tribune, because mailing the razor blade to 4th…

Jun 12, 2015 1:45 PM CDT

Utah mom gets up to life in slayings of 6 newborns found in garage

A Utah woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to murder in the deaths of six newborns whose bodies were hidden in the garage of her home has been sentenced to as much as life in prison. In exchange for the plea by Meagan Huntsman, who is now 40, the…

Apr 20, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Utah governor signs law allowing firing squads as execution backup method

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Monday signed into law a bill that authorizes the use of firing squads in executions if the state is unable to obtain lethal injection drugs. A spokesperson for Herbert, Marty Carpenter, said lethal injection is preferred, but when the drugs aren’t available, the executive branch…

Mar 24, 2015 7:17 AM CDT

Nude sunbather, 77, agrees to plea deal in case over his backyard practice

Thirty years of nude sunbathing in his own backyard ended Tuesday for a 77-year-old Utah man with a plea deal that requires him to don a swimsuit. Myron Lee Kipp hitherto had only a traffic ticket on his record from more than a decade ago, the Associated Press reports. His…

Mar 17, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

Utah to list white-collar criminals in first Internet registry for those convicted of fraud

Utah is poised to become the first state in the nation with a public registry listing convicted white-collar criminals, in an effort to help prevent affinity fraud among the state’s close-knit residents. A bill to require an Internet listing of those found guilty of certain financial crimes sailed through the…

Mar 12, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

Heir can sue herself for causing accident that killed her husband, Utah appeals court says

A woman who allegedly caused a car accident that killed her husband can sue herself in her capacity as heir and representative of the estate, a Utah appeals court has ruled. The plain language of the state’s wrongful death and survival action statutes allows Barbara Bagley to sue, the Utah…

Feb 23, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Utah mom pleads guity to murdering 6 newborns, could get life prison term

A Utah woman pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday in the deaths of six of her newborn babies between roughly 1996 and 2006. Megan Huntsman, 39, could get a life prison term on each count when she is sentenced in the Provo case, but prosecutors agreed to recommend that the…

Feb 12, 2015 4:20 PM CST

Utah inmate forfeited right to counsel after threatening several lawyers, state’s top court says

A Utah inmate has forfeited his right to appellate counsel because of repeated and extreme “dilatory, disruptive, and threatening conduct” toward his lawyers, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled. The inmate, Curtis Allgier, expressed disapproval of a succession of lawyers appointed to represent him in the 2007 murder of a…

Jan 26, 2015 8:55 AM CST