The latest flap swirling around Sen. Chris Buttars raises questions about how well some of our elected representatives understand their proper roles.

Buttars, a West Jordan Republican, wrote an angry letter on official Senate letterhead to 4th District Judge Derek Pullan, castigating him for a decision against his friend, developer/doctor Wendell Gibby, in a long-running dispute Gibby has had with the city of Mapleton. Buttars reminded Pullan that he had supported the judge's appointment but he now regretted it:

"At best this decision conflicts with the values you espoused when confirmed to this important position; and at worst, it exposes a flaw in the most important quality a judge's character can possess, integrity. Either way, I am embarrassed in this case to have supported your appointment."

At the very least, in our view, Buttars committed a breach of propriety by intruding into judicial independence, and Pullan was wise to enter the letter into the case record. Buttars claims to have backed Pullan because of his independence, but the senator's own letter shows a disdain for it.

The letter has an aggressive, even bullying, tone. It made no demands or explicit threats. But a powerful legislator doesn't have to spell out his intentions to get his way. A vaguely ominous letter can be as menacing as one detailing clear consequences for future "bad" decisions.

Buttars's friendship with Gibby only adds to the appearance of impropriety; he can't plausibly answer that he wrote solely out of a sense of public duty. He is not a lawyer, and has little to offer in the case. Adding to this, of course, is that the incident seems to be no fluke but is one of a series of gaffes in which the senator has showed a stunning lack of judgment.

Mud has splashed onto other lawmakers. The Buttars letter was written in May, and a number of senators knew about it from the start. Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, even helped edit it. When the letter became public a few days ago, Valentine removed Buttars from the chairmanship of the judicial confirmation committee.

It's bad enough when one senator is blind to the inappropriate nature of his actions; it's worse when those charged with guiding the Senate also fail to grasp the problem, and then rush to control the damage when it becomes public.

A spokesman for Valentine said in a statement that the Buttars letter was a "private expression of disappointment to a judge he helped confirm." Ric Cantrell defended Buttars on the grounds that he was exercising his First Amendment rights.

But of course, Buttars wasn't Average Joe spouting off under free speech; he was a legislator with power over the naming of judges. Average Joe's rants have no effect on how judges present themselves for confirmation or how they do their jobs, but a blustering letter from the chair of the confirmation committee can. Consequently, one senator's feelings and comments are not private but quite public. Besides, if this were merely a private matter, why did Buttars use official Senate letterhead? Surely not to lend the weight of his office to his comments. No, no, of course not.

A larger concern is why legislative leaders didn't see this, or if they did, why it didn't bother them until the matter went public. Cantrell's statement on behalf of Valentine tells it all: "The scope and impact of that letter changed dramatically when it was published statewide." Translation: Sunshine is an awkward inconvenience.

Most of our representatives seem like decent people who give considerable time and energy to help Utah. But good intentions alone are not sufficient. What counts is action. Flaps such as this serve as a reminder that, when it comes to ethics, our elected officials have special responsibilities to their fellow Utahns.

The integrity of Judge Pullan is not on the line here. But the integrity of the Utah Senate is.

Do you agree?