University of Montana law professor and constitutional scholar Anthony Johnstone has been nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Friday.

It is the best of times and the worst of times in Montana. However, which one of those statements is true depends on which elections officials you speak with, and it is at the heart of a two-week trial being conducted in Yellowstone County District Court where three laws passed by the 2021 Legislature that regulate voting in Montana are being challenged as unconstitutional.

Montanans will continue to elect Montana Supreme Court justices at large with a decision issued Friday — and one immediately criticized by Republican leaders. The state’s highest court in a 5-2 opinion affirmed the Butte-Silver Bow District Court’s decision to enjoin the Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen from placing HB 325 on the ballot in the 2022 general election.