Judge strikes part of law, saying last-minute changes violated Constitution - Montana Standard
A state district court judge on Thursday struck two provisions in a law passed by the Legislature last year.
Judge Mike Menahan ruled legislators violated the state Constitution when they added sections unrelated to the original intent of the bill in a late-session meeting without public participation.
Senate Bill 319, sponsored by Republican Sen. Greg Hertz, initially dealt with campaign finance laws, joint fundraising committees and reporting rules. In a conference committee, however, lawmakers tacked on two other measures: one required a judge to recuse themselves if they received at least of half of the maximum individual contribution from a lawyer or party during the previous six years.
The other new amendment banned voter registration, signature collection, voter turnout and other activities by political groups in certain areas of university campuses.
The additions were made during a "free conference committee" one day before the Legislature adjourned. Those committees, by law, are confined to discuss amendments to the bill on which the two chambers can't agree. Public testimony is not allowed during these hearings.
Menahan on Thursday ruled two of the amendments the committee took up in that conference hearing did not fall under the original purpose of the bill.
The provision banning certain voting efforts around campuses regulated campaign activities, but does not pertain to campaign finance, Menahan wrote. The provision requiring judges to recuse themselves if they've received certain campaign contributions also does not pertain to campaign finance laws, but fall under judicial recusal rules and campaign contributions, he wrote.
Menahan had delayed the provisions of SB 319 less than a month after it was challenged. Plaintiffs, in the suit's first hearing, had argued the provision requiring judges to recuse themselves if attorneys in their court contributed to their campaigns would cause havoc in the judicial system.
Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher, the Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and private attorney Gary Zadick challenged the bill as unconstitutional in June.
“The Legislature failed to abide by the Montana Constitution’s few simple rules on lawmaking,” Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement Thursday. “The court has simply held that the Constitution remains supreme.”
Gov. Greg Gianforte, represented by the Montana Attorney General's Office, was the only named defendant. The Attorney General's Office had argued the original title of the bill was broad enough to encompass the two provisions, and therefore passed muster with the state constitution.
The lawsuit is one of more than 20 challenging bills passed by the 2021 Legislature, a session in which Republican lawmakers had large majorities in both the House and Senate. Democrats and opponents who claimed the laws were unconstitutional had warned they would take to the courts to strike down laws passed on the GOP's near-supermajority in the legislative branch, and newfound support from the executive; Gianforte is the first Republican governor in 16 years.
A second lawsuit was leveled against SB 319 in October, filed in federal court by the state Democratic Party, the candidate committee for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and a 19-year-old University of Montana student.
In that case, filed against Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan, allege the campus campaigning provision violates college students' Frist Amendment right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution, as well as free-speech rights for political committees.
It's unclear if the governor will appeal. A spokesperson on Thursday said Gianforte's office was reviewing the ruling.
source: https://mtstandard.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/judge-strikes-part-of-law-saying-last-minute-changes-violated-constitution/article_afeceaa8-fe3e-553b-bf81-b9f3489fb292.html
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