The sad thing about Hilder, in addition to his poor track record, is that there were several bright candidates nominated by the nominating committee. However, they didn't have the political juice to influence the Governor. At the end of the day, the public suffers twice. First, we get Judge Hilder, a nice guy, but a very, very dim bulb in the constellation of the judiciary. So many are far better qualified. Second, really, really good public service lawyers get passed up because they don't make campaign contributions or have wealthy big law firm friends who want a crony on the bench.

Hmmm, Buttars is worried about Hilder. Sounds like a recommendation to me!

"Also Friday, the committee voted unanimously to recommend Marvin Bagley to Utah's 6th District Court after advising him to use summary judgments liberally." Translated out of legalese, the committee is advising the new judge to take matters away from juries and decide them himself. Seems like odd advice to me.

Hilder's the best judge on the 3rd District Court bench. If he doesn't get confirmed, then there's a problem with this process.

Responding to the first comment about Judge Hilder being a "dim bulb on the judiciary", you must be kidding! Surely you can't know him at all. He is one of the "brightest bulbs" I've dealt with in 30 years dealing with lawyers and judges. You may disagree with a ruling occasionally, but attorneys on both sides of issues acknowledge his brilliant legal mind, compassionate spirit and dignified presence. I wish we could replicate him throughout the judiciary!

Hilder was rejected for appointment to the Appeals Court when he was first suggested in 2005. Obviously he has some problems.

Hilder is an activist judge who injects his own bias into his actions, and that alone should disqualify him.

His inexplicable, and unexplained oral decision (only) on the U of U's illegal gun ban is a good example. Then he recused himself to prevent further consideration of the case.

Further, he was one of the rebellious judges who refused to follow the Legislature's mandate that gun storage lockers be provided at courthouses.

Clearly, Hilder is hostile to the right to legal self defense arms guaranteed by Article 1 Section 6 of the Utah Constitution and the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Utah has plenty of other judges who are fair minded and not prone to judicial activism.

Vigilant, your comment seems to reflect a misunderstanding of the appointment process. Hilder was not "rejected" in 2005 so much as ultimately not selected. The vast majority of judges apply multiple times before they are ultimately appointed.
Second, Hilder was not "rebellious" in his belief that guns, even if kept in lockers, should not be allowed in the courthouse. I know of no judge who supported having guns in the courthouse. Furthermore, it seems to me that any logically thinking individual would see the grave security threat of having guns in a courthouse. People smuggle weapons into courthouses on a regular basis with fatal results. Imagine if the weapons were already available to them in the courthouse and they didn't even have to go through the rigmorale of trying to think of how to get them in.

Judge Hilder, though not perfect, is an excellent judge and a great man. Go Judge Hilder!!!