{"id":219858,"date":"2026-01-12T11:06:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T16:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=case&p=219858"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T16:06:53","slug":"fuja-v-stephens","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens","title":{"rendered":"Fuja v. Stephens"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","supreme_court_term":[],"court":[],"class_list":["post-219858","case","type-case","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"case_number":"","featured_image":"","issues":[46373],"court_type":"state_supreme_court","case_type":false,"supreme_court_term":null,"state_territory_affiliate":[354],"status":"ongoing","date_updated":"20260112","whats_at_stake":"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. \r\n\r\nUtah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable. ","call_to_action":null,"summary":"Utah residents Tannin and Megan Fuja sued city building official Corbett Stephens for fraudulently performing his duties. During their case, the Utah Court of Appeals issued a decision interpreting the Utah Governmental Immunity Act (UGIA) to bar damages suits against public officials even when they commit intentional wrongs. That decision upended a pillar of Utah law that has existed since the state\u2019s founding: the rule that public officials are not immune from damages suits when they intentionally violate the law in the performance of their duties. \r\n\r\nAs a result of that decision, the Utah Court of Appeals dismissed the Fujas\u2019 case, reasoning that Mr. Stephens was immune. The Fujas, then representing themselves, filed a petition for review in the Utah Supreme Court to challenge the dismissal, and Mr. Stephens filed a response. \r\n\r\nThe ACLU and the ACLU of Utah are now representing the Fujas. As the Fujas\u2019 counsel, we filed a reply to Mr. Stephens\u2019 response in the Utah Supreme Court. The reply argues that the Court of Appeals\u2019 novel interpretation of the UGIA clashes with the UGIA\u2019s text, case law, and the Utah Constitution, including the Open Courts Clause. The Utah Supreme Court should grant review to restore the foundational rule that government officials are not entitled to immunity from damages suits when they commit intentional wrongs. \r\n\r\nThe Utah Supreme Court will now consider whether to grant the Fujas\u2019 petition and hear the case.","case_decision":"","featured_case":false,"legal_project":"","date_filed":null,"administration_challenged":"","constitutional_principle":["Access to Justice"],"drupal_node_id":"","legal_documents":[{"court":2041,"documents":[{"document_options":"document","document":219861,"title":"Petition for Writ of Certiorari","subtitle":"","date_filed":"20250902","drupal_node_id":"","slug":"","child_documents":[{"child_document":219862,"title":"Response to Petition for Certiorari","subtitle":"","date_filed":"20251215","drupal_node_id":"","slug":""},{"child_document":219864,"title":"Reply in Support Certiorari (ACLU and ACLU-UT)","subtitle":"","date_filed":"20251222","drupal_node_id":"","slug":""}]}]}],"plaintiffs":"","co-counsel":"","press_releases_related_to_cases":"","related_content_cases":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fuja v. Stephens | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens\",\"name\":\"Fuja v. Stephens | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-12T16:06:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American Civil Liberties Union","description":"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fuja v. Stephens | American Civil Liberties Union","og_description":"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens","og_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aclu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens","name":"Fuja v. Stephens | American Civil Liberties Union","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-12T16:06:53+00:00","description":"This case asks whether government officials who intentionally violate the law are immune from damages suits under a state statute governing such suits, and if so, whether the statute itself violates the Open Courts Clause of the Utah Constitution. Utah\u2019s Open Courts Clause, like similar provisions in thirty-nine other states across the country, protects an individual\u2019s right to seek judicial remedies for wrongs committed against them. It therefore serves as an important tool that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution to hold government actors accountable.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/fuja-v-stephens"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/","name":"American Civil Liberties Union","description":"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.","inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/219858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/219858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219865,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/219858\/revisions\/219865"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/affiliate_info\/354"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"supreme_court_term","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supreme_court_term?post=219858"},{"taxonomy":"court","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/court?post=219858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}