Montana Public Radio | By Shaylee Ragar Published December 5, 2024 at 6:28 PM MST

Dailly Montanan- Committee’s final work includes bill aiming to outline separation of powers in statute

HELENA — After months of hearings, Republicans on a state legislative committee have come out with their final list of proposed bills, intended as a response to conflicts over the proper role of the judicial branch.

DAILY MONTANAN — Senate Republicans on the Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform voted Tuesday to require witnesses to testify under the threat of perjury and to subpoena any elected officials and their subordinates they wish to call, saying they want to ensure testimony is factual and that people they want to testify show up without delay.

DAILY MONTANAN —The Republican-led Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform voted Monday to send a letter to Montana’s Supreme Court justices, a district court judge and several other court employees asking about how the chief justice decides to appoint retired judges. Most of the committee’s meetings so far have been educational, as attorneys and judges have told the Republican lawmakers about the separation of powers, attorney ethics, and where the line sits between the judiciary, legislative, and executive branches when it comes to creating and interpreting the law.

MONTANA FREE PRESS — State Senate Republicans empaneled to “rein in” the courts got their first chance to question a district judge on Monday. It did not go smoothly. Judge Mike Menahan of the First Judicial District in Helena was asked to swear an oath to testify truthfully, something rarely done outside of court proceedings or notorizations. The judge declined, explaining that in his decade-plus experience with the Legislature, including four years as a Democratic state representative for Helena, he’d never seen anyone compelled to do so.

INDEPENDENT RECORD — Questioning often turned sharp on Monday as a Republican-led committee aimed at curbing what lawmakers claim to be judicial overreach got their first stab at a sitting district court judge. The Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform spent its first two meetings largely educating themselves on the judicial branch and court procedure.

BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE — Legislative Assaults on State Courts in 2023 – State lawmakers passed bills that made partisan changes to judicial selection, manipulated venue rules, and politicized judicial ethics.