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Committee for an Effective Judiciary v. State of Montana

679 P.2d 1223 (1984)

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Committee for an Effective Judiciary v. State of Montana

Montana Supreme Court
679 P.2d 1223 (1984)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

Montana (defendant) enacted laws that prohibited district judges from running for the state supreme court bench, and supreme court justices from running for chief justice, without first resigning from their current positions. But the Montana Constitution provided that judges forfeited their positions by either running for a nonjudicial elective office or leaving the state for 60 days, suggesting judges should be able to run for other judicial positions without first resigning. A group of registered voters including a district judge, seven lawyers, and three former members of the convention that drafted the Montana Constitution formed the Committee for an Effective Judiciary (plaintiff) and sued, challenging the resign-to-run laws. The state countered that the claimants lacked standing because the laws did not prevent registered voters from voting, only from voting for a current judge for a different judicial position, and the claimants did not establish that any current judge actually wanted to run for a different judicial position. Noting the importance of the issue in an election year and the impending deadline for nominations, the Montana Supreme Court granted review.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Shea, J.)

Dissent (Haswell, C.J.)

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