It will be six to nine months before the Wyoming Supreme Court’s newest incoming justice can participate fully in deciding cases, the high court told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
That’s because Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill, who will soon be sworn in as a Wyoming Supreme Court justice, has represented the state on at least half the appeals the high court hears.
Gov. Mark Gordon, who appointed Hill to the AG position in 2019, on April 11 chose her from a slate of three nominees to fill the upcoming May 27 vacancy of retiring Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Kate Fox.
Under the Code of Judicial Conduct, Hill will have to stay out of cases on which she’s been involved as an attorney until a new crop of cases on which she won’t have any real conflicts, or questions of conflict, arrives.
It’s not unusual for prior conflicts to follow an attorney entering the role of Supreme Court justice, said Elisa Butler, Wyoming State Court administrator, in a Tuesday email.
But for Hill, the number of conflicts is “more than usual” since roughly half the cases before the Wyoming Supreme Court are criminal appeals in which the AG’s office is a party, Butler added.
Still Plenty To Do
The AG’s office is also involved in some civil cases, such as asset forfeitures.
“We expect the number of cases in which (Hill) has a conflict will taper off over the next six to nine months,” wrote Butler. “Meanwhile, she will be assigned other cases, so she will have plenty to do as she adapts to her new role.”
On the cases Hill can’t hear, Wyoming district court judges will fill the void.
Fox may also be recalled to help decide some cases.
In the case of an older man contesting the government’s seizure of $54,226 in cash that he calls his life savings, and the government calls drug money, Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher has been appointed to serve in Hill’s place.
Laramie County District Court Judge Nathaniel Hibben is assigned to hear a case in which the Wyoming Department of Revenue contests whether Merit Energy Co. is entitled to a refund for sales tax paid on electricity to power its pumps.
Hibben has also been assigned to hear the appeal of a Kemmerer woman who killed a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting when she clapped the girl’s head repeatedly between her hands.
Chief Justice Fox To Stay On Abortion Case
In perhaps the most controversial case now pending before the Wyoming Supreme Court, Johnson v. Wyoming, an alternate appointment had not been filed as of Wednesday.
That case asks whether abortion is health care and whether abortion is a fundamental right under the state Constitution.
Through deputy AG Jay Jerde, Hill’s office has waged a pro-life argument in defense of Wyoming’s various abortion bans on that case and its predecessor since 2022.
Fox oversaw the April 16 oral argument on that case and will remain on the case, Butler said.
“Chief Justice Fox will be a part of that decision,” wrote Butler. “Because Chief Justice Fox is still serving, and was serving as Justice when the case became ripe for oral argument, she will be one of the five Justices who decides that case.”
Justices continue to sit on cases until their retirement and participate in decisions on cases even when those decisions aren’t published until after the Justice’s retirement, Butler added.
When Justice Keith Kautz retired, he was recalled to opine on multiple cases over which he’d presided before retiring.
“There will be multiple cases in which Chief Justice Fox will participate in the decision, but that won’t be published until after she retires,” Butler wrote.
Case By Case
Butler said Hill will determine which cases pose conflicts for her on a case-by-case basis.
Hill echoed that, saying she’ll follow the applicable ethical guidelines and the Code of Judicial Conduct.
“I will indeed have other cases and judicial responsibilities even though I will initially be recused from some cases,” Hill told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday email. “The court has a number of cases appearing on its docket that don't involve the state of Wyoming, the Attorney General's Office, or other factors for which I would need to recuse myself.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
