Amicus Brief in Menzies, et. al v. Utah Dept. of Corrections, et. al

The Plaintiffs, five incarcerated individuals on Utah’s death row, sued the Utah Department of Corrections and the State of Utah for several state constitutional violations. Their claims asserted that Utah’s two death penalty methods, firing squad and lethal injection, violate their right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and unnecessary rigor under the Utah Constitution. 

The District Court dismissed the claims and stated the claims were filed too late and did not allege enough facts to succeed on the merits. The Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal, and the case is now before the Supreme Court of Utah to determine if the District Court correctly dismissed the Plaintiffs’ case. The amicus curiae brief, or a “friend of the court” brief, will help the Supreme Court interpret Utah’s constitutional provisions on cruel and unusual punishment and unnecessary rigor, both of which provide protections for incarcerated individuals. It explains Utah’s unique history where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders were imprisoned for practicing polygamy and subjected to horrid conditions while incarcerated. It is against this backdrop that the framers of the Utah Constitution enacted broad protections for all incarcerated Utahns.