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Fact Sheet – Senate Bill 52 (SB52)
Create Montana Court of Chancery A Chancery Court is a specialized court. Under this proposal, the Chancery Court would have superseding jurisdiction over district courts. It would include three judges,…
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Fact Sheet – Senate Bill 45 (SB45)
Create a Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission and System Senate Bill 45 proposes changes that could significantly impact the independence of Montana’s judiciary by altering how judges are selected and retained.…
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Fact Sheet – House Bill 35 (HB35)
Allocating Judicial Standards Commission to the Department of Justice House Bill 35 proposes reallocating the Judicial Standards Commission to the Department of Justice. The Senate Select on Judicial Oversight and…
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Fact Sheet – Senate Bill 21 (SB21)
Allowing Legislative and Executive Leadership to Vacate a Writ of Mandamus Senate Bill 21 proposes a change to state law regarding writs of mandamus-court orders that compel government officials or…
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Fact Sheet – Issue: Partisan Election of Judges and Justices
Montana’s judicial elections have been nonpartisan since 1935, when the legislature prohibited political parties from endorsing, contributing to, or making expenditures in support of, or opposition to, judicial candidates. Current…
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Fact Sheet – Senate Bill 40 (SB40)
Revise Supreme Court Public Records Laws by Opening Deliberations and Files to the Public Senate Bill 40 proposes the recording of closed judicial deliberations of the Montana Supreme Court and…
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Fact Sheet – Senate Bill 13 (SB13)
Remove Supreme Court Original Jurisdiction for Ballot Review Senate Bill 13 seeks to eliminate the Montana Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction in cases involving ballot reviews, except for writs of habeas…
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Big Sky 55+: Protecting Montana’s Fair and Independent Courts
Big Sky 55+ Legislative Town Hall, featuring Anne Sherwood, Rep. Tom France, and Raph Graybill. Moderated by Big Sky 55+ boardmember Dennis Taylor.
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2025 State of the Judiciary
Chief Justice Cory Swanson provides a document on his thoughts on the State of the Montana Judiciary.
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Stay The Course MT: Keep Montana Courts Independent
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Brennan Center for Justice: Obeying Court Orders Isn’t Optional
Originally posted by Michael Waldman, read the post here. Donald Trump’s lawbreaking spree has now been met with an unprecedented series of judicial rebukes. Just yesterday, five federal courts blocked…
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The American Bar Association: The ABA supports the rule of law
Originally posted by William R. Bay, president of the American Bar Association It has been three weeks since Inauguration Day. Most Americans recognize that newly elected leaders bring change. That…
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Final Report: State of Montana Workload Assessment Study of District Court Judicial Officers
National Center for State Courts Key Findings This assessment establishes a set of workload standards that provide uniform and comparable measures of the number of judicial officers needed to provide…
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Brennan Center for Justice: Legislative Assaults on State Courts in 2024
Originally posted by Michael Milov-Cordoba with the Brennan Center for Justice. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion-related politics have loomed large over state judiciaries. In 2024, state…
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Written or Recorded Testimony
NOTE: Any written or recorded testimony you submit to the Legislature will go in a public record that can be searched by people who want to read/see it. A few…
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Middle Fork Strategies – Poll: Montanans Oppose Partisan Courts, Support Continued Medicaid
View the release on MiddleForkMT.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2025 Media Contact: Brandon DeMars, bdemars@middleforkmt.org Nick Lockridge, nlockridge@middleforkmt.org Poll: Montanans Oppose Partisan Courts, Support Continued Medicaid Statewide survey from…
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National Survey Reflects High Trust in State Courts
State courts generally maintain high public trust, valued for fairness and accessibility. However, approval can fluctuate due to political factors, high-profile decisions, and perceptions of judicial independence. In its recently…
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True North Issues New Research Report Detailing Who Is Targeting State Courts to Limit Freedoms
From True North Research In 2024, America will witness some of the most expensive state judicial elections in history, with attack ads largely fueled by men with vast fortunes trying…
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Embattled Courts CLE
Featuring — Mae Nan Ellingson, Hon. Jeffrey Sherlock, Susan Byorth Fox, Mike Dennison, Arren Kimble-Sannit, Tristan Scott, Lee Banville
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Montana Supreme Court Performance Measures and Statistics
From the Montana Judicial Branch SUPREME COURT Performance Measures – This report provides baseline data from three additional performance measures which focus on case processing and related timelines. These “snapshots” give…
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A Past and Future of Judicial Elections: The Case of Montana
Judicial elections are approaching their second century in the United States, and they are not going away anytime soon. After the rise of Jacksonian Democracy in the early nineteenth century,…
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Legal Review of Montana Proposed Legislation
Presented by Todd Everts, Chief Legal Counsel/Code Commissioner | Legislative Branch, State of Montana
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Montana Judicial Elections: Does the Past Hold Lessons for Future
Anthony Johnstone, A Faculty Publication, Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana. Montanans never much liked outside influence in their judiciary, and their first line of…
