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OREM -- Two Orem teenagers are protesting their dismissal from a youth council after one of them put a politician on the spot.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Stevie Smith and Derek Sorensen have been members of Orem City's youth council for nearly two years. On Jan. 27, they were at the Utah State Capitol listening to former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani speak about his community policing program and a decrease in crime.
Smith had read in the book "Freakonomics" that an increase in abortions in the 1970s was responsible for the decrease in crime in the 1990s in New York.
Smith asked Guiliani about that. He was shouted down by council adviser Paul Johnson. Sorensen shouted back.
He and Smith later were removed from the council. In a letter, Johnson said it was due to insubordination, not the question asked.
The Tribune reports Smith and Sorensen pleaded their case before the City Council Tuesday night. Mayor Jerry Washburn said there were other issues of behavior and concern. He also said Johnson's decision to remove the teens was not subject to appeal.
