Author: Keegan Flaherty
-
Montana’s Constitutional transparency in government is the point of ‘We The People’
When I filed to run for delegate to Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention, I felt that writing a new Constitution was all about “We the People.” Those electing the delegates were “We the People of Montana” who then ratified our Constitution, creating a government by which ee govern ourselves through elections. We hold the power of…
-
Chaos at the Justice Department
President Trump has transformed the agency. We look at what’s happening on the inside. President Trump’s second term has been difficult for the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency. The administration has taken away safeguards that protected the agency from political influence. Trump officials have directed criminal investigations that would usually have nothing to do…
-
State Senator leads new effort with old charges to oust Supreme Court justice
After the 2025 Legislature, Republicans who were in the majority in both chambers lamented that they didn’t get more done to refashion the state’s judiciary, vowing to take up the effort in 2027. While lawmakers have already begun the bill drafting process for 2027, other state legislators are pushing to bring the state court system to heel. Chairman of…
-
Federal Judge, Warning of ‘Existential Threat’ to Democracy, Resigns
Judge Mark L. Wolf, writing in The Atlantic, said he was stepping down to speak out against the “assault on the rule of law” by President Trump, whom he accused of “targeting his adversaries.” A federal judge warned of an “existential threat to democracy” in a searing first-person essay published on Sunday, saying he had…
-
Legislator Bill Mercer confirmed to U.S. District Court judgeship
Former Montana U.S. attorney Bill Mercer was confirmed to a U.S. District Court judgeship in a partisan vote by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday night. The Billings attorney, currently in his fourth term as a state representative, was confirmed 53 votes to 46, with Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, not voting. Mercer will replace U.S. District Court…
-
Watch the recordings of the Legislature, the Judiciary, and the Rule of Law.
On September 26, 2025, Friends of the Third Branch held a CLE in Missoula, Montana at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law. Now you can watch each of the discussions. Presentation 1: MONTANA BILLS INPACTING THE JUDIICARY Anne Sherwood, Morrison, Sherwood, Wilson & Deola, PLLP. Presentation 2: THE NINE, LLEW, AND YOU Steve Fitspatrick,…
-
Governor appoints two district judges in Yellowstone County
Following House Bill 913, Yellowstone County officially has two new judges. Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Seth Cunningham and Edward Zink to serve on the Thirteenth Judicial District in Yellowstone County, the Governor’s Office announced Monday in a news release. HB 913 increased the number of judges in that county from eight to 10. The Governor’s Office described…
-
Knudsen sued over ballot language edits
Backers of two ballot initiatives calling for nonpartisan elections for Montana courts are suing Attorney General Austin Knudsen for editing their ballot language. Knudsen now faces three lawsuits for changes to initiatives intended to keep Montana court races nonpartisan. The group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts filed two of those lawsuits Friday over the changes to two…
-
Attorney general’s edits to ballot initiatives anger petitioners
A second proposed ballot initiative mandating nonpartisan judicial elections has received the OK of Montana’s attorney general, but with the same language that triggered a lawsuit against the AG last week. A second nonpartisan judicial elections ballot initiative received the OK of Montana’s attorney general Oct. 9, but with the same edits that triggered a…
-
Protecting your rights and yourselves
Montana is fortunate to have a state Constitution that stands at the top of the most innovative and comprehensive statements of civil liberties, political freedoms and citizen protections in any U.S. Constitution. There are over three dozen provisions in the document, most in the Declaration of Rights, containing numerous safeguards for Montana citizens. Reviewers all…