Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement Volume 2012 Article 2 2012 No Justice in Utah's Justice Courts: Constitutional Issues, Systemic Problems, and the Failure to Protect Defendants in Utah's Infamous Local Courts Samuel P. Newton Teresa L. Welch Neal G. Hamilton Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.law.utah.edu/onlaw Part of the Courts Commons, Judges Commons, and the Jurisprudence Commons Recommended Citation Newton, Samuel P.; Welch, Teresa L.; and Hamilton, Neal G. (2012) "No Justice in Utah's Justice Courts: Constitutional Issues, Systemic Problems, and the Failure to Protect Defendants in Utah's Infamous Local Courts," Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement: Vol. 2012 , Article 2. Available at: https://dc.law.utah.edu/onlaw/vol2012/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Utah Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Utah OnLaw: The tU ah Law Review Online Supplement by an authorized editor of Utah Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NO JUSTICE IN UTAH’S JUSTICE COURTS: CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES, SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS, AND THE FAILURE TO PROTECT † DEFENDANTS IN UTAH’S INFAMOUS LOCAL COURTS Samuel P. Newton,* Teresa L. Welch,** & Neal G. Hamilton*** [T]here’ll be no Justice of the Peace for you; just a big piece of justice.1 INTRODUCTION Justice courts2 could be called the most loved and hated court in the judicial system. The justices of the peace who preside over the courts are equally polarizing figures. The courts have been called “a powerful, multifaceted, local legal institution”3 which “helped design and weave together the social, economic, and political fabric”4 of American society.