A District Court judge Monday grilled a state attorney representing the Legislature on Republican lawmakers chosen methods of pursuing their concerns with the judicial branch.
Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice was the only justice last month to file a court challenge against a legislative subpoena seeking his communications regarding any polling conducted on pending legislation. The other six justices put a halt to the subpoenas for their own communications, telling the legislative committee formed by Republican lawmakers that they did not participate in any such polling conducted by the Montana Judges Association. Republican lawmakers remained skeptical after the Supreme Court administrator conceded she deleted the results of one of the email polls.
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Plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of a bill Gov. Greg Gianforte signed in March expanded their litigation efforts Wednesday to include a fail-safe bill Republican lawmakers passed in case the original bill was struck down.
The sprawling saga between Republican lawmakers and the judiciary, which now involves three legal actions, largely began with Senate Bill 140. The legislation eliminated the Judicial Nomination Commission that presented a list of candidates to the governor for appointment. With its passage, Gianforte, a Republican, can now make his own selections to fill judicial vacancies. It s a move GOP lawmakers say will allow them to bring more conservative judges to the bench.Â
The Montana attorney general last week filed a motion for the state Supreme Court to recuse itself from a case involving its own administrator.
Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen in an April 30 filing called it an obvious conflict of interest for the Supreme Court to hear a case deciding if Administrator Beth McLaughlin should release emails involving the judicial branch.
Hearing the case, and previously granting an emergency weekend motion by McLaughlin to quash a subpoena for her emails, undercut the public s
 confidence in the integrity of the judiciary, Knudsen argued.
Montana State News Bureau Chief Holly Michels summarizes the day s news from Helena following the end of the 2021 Montana legislative session.