North Dakota voters recently approved an initiative that would bar congressional candidates over the age of 81 from serving in office (even if it’s unconstitutional under U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton). A similar effort was attempted in Utah, but it won’t appear on the ballot. Here’s the Utah Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Phillips v. Henderson:
Ian Daniel Phillips and a group of Utah voters (collectively, the Sponsors) wish to initiate state legislation that would place an age limit on Utah candidates for federal office. The Lieutenant Governor rejected the Sponsors’ initiative application after concluding that, under U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995), the proposed law was “patently unconstitutional” or “could not become law if passed,” see UTAH CODE § 20A-7-202(5). In Thornton, the United States Supreme Court held that the federal Constitution forbids states from enacting laws imposing qualifications on candidates for federal congressional office. 514 U.S. at 800.
After their initiative application was rejected, the Sponsors sued the Lieutenant Governor. The Sponsors sought a declaration that the initiative is not patently unconstitutional and could become law if enacted because Thornton either did not apply or should be overruled. The district court rejected both arguments, ruling that the Sponsors were not entitled to relief, because the proposed initiative is “squarely foreclosed by” Thornton, a decision that the court had no authority to overrule. Accordingly, the district court dismissed the Sponsors’ complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
On appeal, the Sponsors maintain that Thornton should be overruled because its prohibition on state-created qualifications for federal officeholders violates the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. But because the Sponsors recognize that this court lacks authority to overturn Thornton, they ask us to affirm the district court’s decision, thereby paving the way for them to petition the United States Supreme Court for review.
The Lieutenant Governor also urges us to affirm, but she questions whether appellants who seek an affirmance have standing on appeal. We hold that appellants who concede that they cannot prevail at a particular stage on appeal have appellate standing so long as they had traditional standing in the district court, were a party or privy to that action, and were aggrieved by the district court’s judgment. The Sponsors meet each of these requirements and therefore have appellate standing. And because controlling federal law precludes the Sponsors’ requested relief, we affirm the district court’s ruling on the merits.