One of Utah’s most powerful Republican lawmakers, House Speaker Mike Schultz, was a fiery driving force behind the resolution HR8 — which has the effect of sending a strongly worded message but no lawful impact otherwise.

Schultz, R-Hooper, has been outspoken against Torgerson over comments he made during open court proceedings on a child pornography case.

During a sentencing hearing in May, Torgerson twice referenced the 22-year-old defendant’s “privilege,”  KSL-TV reported. The judge also said he had “seen worse” depictions of child sexual abuse after watching two videos the defendant possessed showing children being raped and abused, though the judge had also added he didn’t mean to “minimize” what the defendant did.

“You can’t defend what was said. … What was in that video, I can’t even say on this House floor. But I promise you it was one of the most disgusting acts ever imagined. And for a judge to say afterwards, ‘I’ve seen worse,'” Schultz said before trailing off.

Schultz said there’s been “ample opportunity for at least, at minimum, an apology for what was said, but instead, all we hear is excuses and defense” of Torgerson.

A spokesperson for the Utah Courts has not returned requests seeking comment on behalf of Torgerson.

In a House committee on Monday, Michael Drechsel, assistant state court administrator, said the Legislature had a hand in shaping the punishment for the defendant, which included credit for about three-and-a-half months the man had already served behind bars. He noted that the Legislature adopts recommendations on penalties for judges to consider, and he said the sentence in question “was squarely in the middle of those sentencing guidelines.”

The prosecutor also dismissed 18 of 20 first-degree felonies in the case and reduced the remainder to second-degree felony sentences, pushing the case into territory where the presumed penalty is probation, not prison, Drechsel noted.

But Schultz said on the House floor Tuesday that “this isn’t about the sentence itself,” but rather Torgerson’s conduct and comments from the bench.

“I could disagree with the sentence itself, and I certainly do,” Schultz said. “But that’s not what this is about. This is about the comments that were made about ‘privilege,’ and ‘I”ve seen worse.’ I just, I can’t imagine being some of the victims out there of sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse. It’s wrong.”

By and large, the House voted to pass HR8 with bipartisan support on a 67-3 vote, with all but one Democrat and two Republicans voting in favor of it.

Rep. Grant Miller, D-Salt Lake City, was among those who voted against the resolution. On the House floor, Miller drew from his experience as a defense attorney while arguing lawmakers shouldn’t issue a censure without first hearing Torgerson’s side of the story.

“Context here matters,” Miller said, arguing that he could see why the judge might have misspoke while weighing what to do about the defendant’s punishment. He also said in his time as a defense attorney, he knows that viewing “traumatic” videos can “trigger a wave of stuff and could lead you to say something pretty stupid.”

“I’ve done it myself,” Miller said, adding that there’s probably years of court records “of me just dealing in trauma where I said something in court” that was “flippant or irresponsible. And I’m sure that someone could find it and they could hold it against me.”

“I would hope that if that ever happened to me, I’d have (a) process,” Miller said. “I’d have the ability to make a public statement to articulate why I said what I said.”

Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, pushed back on Miller’s comments, saying that after the Judicial Conduct Commission investigated complaints against him, Torgerson was disciplined with a “gentle, private reprimand.”

The commission called his behavior “troubling,” but ultimately dismissed the complaints with warning, KSL reported.

“If you look at what this video was, it was a young child being grossly sexually abused and raped. There’s the context for you,” Pierucci said. “And for any judge to try to minimize child sexual abuse, they should be off the bench.”

The House resolution does not require approval or consideration from the Senate. In that body, one member of Republican leadership, Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, called the resolution “misguided.”

“Yes, absolutely, the judge said some dumb things,” McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told reporters Monday. But he questioned why a prosecutor wanting a harsher penalty agreed to drop the felony counts that were dismissed.

When asked why the measure is a House resolution and not a shared effort with the Senate, Schultz said McKell and Torgerson are friends. McKell told reporters Monday that he knows the judge.

Censures from the Legislature are rare. The last one came about two years ago, when both the House and Senate censured an embattled Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline after she posted a high school basketball player’s picture online publicly questioning her gender.

The condemnation of Torgerson also comes as the Republican-controlled Utah Legislature moves to reshape the judiciary after the courts have issued several decisions that have upset GOP lawmakers, including on issues like redistricting and abortion.  This year they have so far created a new three-judge panel to hear constitutional challenges and expanded the Utah Supreme Court from five justices to seven.