Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Tuesday vetoed Senate Bill 296, a bill that would have granted him the power to appoint the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court every four years.

Presently, the members of the Utah Supreme Court have an exclusive say on who becomes the chief justice. SB 296 would have changed that longstanding tradition supported by current statute.

In a detailed letter, Cox acknowledged that the chief justice of the US Supreme Court is also appointed by the executive and confirmed by the senate. However, Cox distinguished the federal appointment process with the bill’s proposal by pointing that SB 296, unlike its federal counterpart law, requires the appointment process to occur every four years. Cox feared that this would impair the independence of the judiciary by introducing politics into the appointment process.

Cox admitted that it was tempting for him to sign this bill into law and noted that no one from the judiciary asked him to veto the bill during his meetings with them. However, he stated he must “respectfully decline” to sign the bill adding:

It is not lost on me that this bill actually gives me — the Governor — more power than I currently possess… Knowing the head magistrate of our state’s highest court would have to think twice before ruling against me or checking my power is difficult to reject. I also recognize that refusing power is not en vogue these days and may be seen as weakness. But just because I can, doesn’t mean I should…

For these reasons, I have decided to veto SB 296. In so doing, I do not mean to imply that the judiciary is infallible or beyond reproach. I am deeply disappointed in some recent decisions that I believe are wrong…

Much like the tearing down of Chesterton’s Fence, while it might feel good now, I believe we would eventually come to regret rejecting ancient wisdom and injecting our own politics into the independent judiciary

Cox has also indicated that he would have vetoed two other bills targeting the judiciary: one that would give a legislative panel the power to recommend that judges be voted out, and another that would require judges to get two-thirds support in retention elections every six years. Those bills were abandoned by the legislature, making the matter moot.

Unless, two-thirds of the Utah legislature override the veto, SB 296 will not become law. Cox signed 200 other bills into law the same day.