Category: Montana News
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Chief Justice Cory Swanson – Placing Outreach on the Supreme Court Docket
It was indeed an honor to have the Honorable Cory Swanson, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, visit in-studio. The outreach represented one of Justice Swanson’s tenets in judicial reform; a more public-facing court system. Click on the podcast for an inside look at the state’s judicial system, and to learn more about how…
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Groups claim Montana Attorney General wants to mislead public about nonpartisan elections
Constitutional Initiative 131 would require district court, Supreme Court elections to be nonpartisan; groups say rewritten wording suggests the opposite Two groups leading efforts to ensure that Montana’s judicial elections, both at the local and Supreme Court level, remain nonpartisan have filed a motion with the Montana Supreme Court saying that Attorney General Austin Knudsen…
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Judge recuses from ‘bathroom bill’ case to promote judicial integrity
Missoula County District Court Judge Shane Vannatta recused himself from hearing a lawsuit over a bill that says there are only two sexes, but he noted the “facts” in a move to disqualify him are “exceedingly thin.” In a Sept. 25 court filing, Vannatta said he would withdraw from jurisdiction of the case “in the interest of…
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Montana Supreme Court chief, legislators, attorneys gather to discuss attacks on courts
MISSOULA – The Montana state legislature passed five laws last session that took aim at the judiciary branch. Some of them look to reassign judges for different cases in different geographic locations, while others take aim at judges by creating a special judicial review commission. These laws sounded the alarm for some legal professionals, and…