News & Opinions 

 

Please note that opinions posted here are not necessarily opinions of The Friends of the Montana Constitution, a 501c3 nonprofit. The views and opinions expressed below are those of the authors listed and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

News

February 15, 2023 / News

UM Unveils New Online Resource About Montana Constitution

February 10, 2023 cholars from the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center and Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the...
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February 11, 2023 / News

Chair breaks with Democrats to pass a legislative map, completing redistricting process

Redistricting Commission Chair Maylinn Smith broke with Democrats to pass Montana’s legislative map on Saturday, marking the end of over three years of work from the commission. Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission voted 3-2, with Republicans opposed, on a map to divide the state into 100 house districts, with 50 senate district pairings after accepting recommendations from the legislature on their tentative map proposed in December.
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February 10, 2023 / News

Attorneys general from 23 GOP-led states back suit seeking to block abortion pill

Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from throughout the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The state of Missouri filed its own brief in the case Friday while Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch filed a brief on behalf of her state as well as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
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February 8, 2023 / News

Department of Justice seeks funding boost

The DOJ wants to hire more attorneys and pay legal expenses, citing, among other cost drivers, an increased ‘volume of constitutional challenges to state laws.’
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February 6, 2023 / News

The Montana Legislature’s seating chart

House Bill 271, sponsored by Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre, would seat lawmakers in the state House and Senate alphabetically by last name.
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Opinion

February 2, 2025 / Opinion

‘Gubernatorial Privilege’ decision yet another barrier to transparency in Montana

By Addie Slanger, Published in the Daily Inter Lake on February 2, 2025 In its second decision of the new...
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January 21, 2025 / Opinion

The Jewels of the Montana Constitution

By Jon Ellingson, published in the Helena Independent Record, January 21, 2025 Last month the Montana Supreme Court issued two...
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Joel Krautter
January 21, 2025 / Opinion

Keep Montana Judicial Elections Non-Partisan

By Joel Krautter, Published in the Laurel Outlook on January 21. 2025. As the Montana Legislature meets again, a handful...
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January 6, 2025 / News, Opinion

A Constitution Unique to Montana and Uniquely Montanan

Essay by Constance Van Kley, an Assistant Professor at the Blewett School of Law at the University of Montana. January...
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March 30, 2023 / Opinion

VIEWPOINT: GOP, BUSINESS GROUPS STIFLING VOTERS’ VOICES

Evan Barrett March 30, 2023 In contravention of the Montana Constitution, the supermajority Republican legislature and a series of business...
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