LTE: CI-132 would better protect Montana’s courts

I'm writing today to encourage your support and vote for CI-132. This important constitutional amendment would serve to better protect Montana's court system.

Currently, Montana's decision to maintain non-partisan elections for judges is established in law. As such, it is threatened by constant legislative efforts to undermine the impartiality of our judicial system and serve political parties' interests. Frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of the political bickering and fighting between the D's and R’s.

Specifically, electing our supreme court justices on a non-partisan basis forces us, the voters, to pay attention to how the candidates have performed after tenaciously serving as a lower court judge. Have they ruled impartially? Are their decisions based on the law and the facts of each case? Do they tend to rule in favor of the Constitution? Do the litigants, or those charged with crimes, feel decisions are fair? Frankly, I'd be disgusted if the decisions of the court were based on whether the appellant was a Democrat or a Republican. We've had enough of that kind of decision-making in the legislature and Congress.

If a system isn't broken, why do we need to fix it? Montana's decision to elect our lower court judges and supreme court justices on a non-partisan basis has served our state and its citizens well. Let's make sure it stays that way.

Don Judge

Helena

Originally published in the Helena Independent Record on 9/22/26