David Lawrence Wilkinson (December 6, 1936 – December 10, 2022) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th

Attorney General of Utah The Attorney General of Utah is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of Utah. The attorney general is the chief legal officer and legal adviser in the state. The office is elected, with a term of four y ...

from 1981 to 1989 as a Republican.

Early life and education

Wilkinson was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on December 6, 1936, to Ernest Leroy and Alice Ludlow Wilkinson. Wilkinson's family moved to

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

, when his father became president of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. Wilkinson obtained degrees from Brigham Young University,

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Career

Prior to entering politics, Wilkinson practiced law in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and Washington, D.C. In 1980, Wilkinson ran for

as a Republican, defeating incumbent Robert B. Hansen in the primary. Wilkinson won the general election in 1980 and re-election in 1984, defeating Park City attorney Joe Tesch. He served as the 16th Attorney General of Utah from 1981 to 1989.

Utah Cable Television Programming Decency Act

In 1983, during Wilkinson's time in office, the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...

passed a controversial measure known as the Utah Cable Television Programming Decency Act, which limited the airing of R-rated movies to seven hours a day, between midnight and 7:00 a.m. Though Wilkinson spent up to $2 million defending the measure, the law was prevented from ever being enforced, and in 1987, by a 7-2 ruling, the law was declared unconstitutional by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

due to being a violation of the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. Following the Supreme Court's decision, Wilkinson voiced his disapproval of the verdict, stating, "While I regret the court's decision today, I do not regret my decision to pursue this matter to its ultimate resolution." Wilkinson also suggested that there would be another attempt to enforce the measure following changes to the Supreme Court. Wilkinson ran for a third term as Attorney General in 1988, though his use of taxpayer money for his cable television feud resulted in an unsuccessful bid, as Wilkinson was defeated by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Paul Van Dam in the general election by roughly 28,000 votes.

Personal life and death

Wilkinson was married and had four children. Wilkinson died in his sleep at his home in Provo on December 10, 2022, just four days after he had turned 86 years old.

References

External links

David L. Wilkinson
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, David L. 1936 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Utah attorneys general Utah Republicans Utah lawyers Politicians from Washington, D.C. Politicians from Provo, Utah Alumni of the University of Oxford University of California, Berkeley alumni Brigham Young University alumni 20th-century Utah politicians