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In 2021, I wrote an article for E-City Beat titled “The War of Words At The Montana Supreme Court,” which outlined the court's corruption issues.
A lot has happened since 2021. In the E-City Beat article, I referenced Senate Bill 140, which gave the governor the direct authority to appoint court judges and Supreme Court justices in the event of a vacancy. Chief Justice Mike McGrath’s term expires this year, and Justice Dirk M. Sandefur’s also expires this year, with neither seeking re-election. It would logically follow that the governor would appoint individuals to these positions, but this is not the case because these open spots are not considered “vacancies.” A “vacancy” would only occur when an individual dies or leaves the office for other unforeseen circumstances.
Thus, we have individuals running for these Supreme Court positions in 2024. Jerry Lynch and Cory Swanson are considered the Democrat and Republican respectively running for the Chief Justice seat, but there is also an Independent in the race—Doug Marshall. Most media outlets say they “don’t know much about this guy.” When I called Doug Marshall and mentioned this to him, he replied, “That’s because they didn’t bother to ask.”
As Doug Marshall points out, many voters are tired of the old Left-Right paradigm in politics and have become increasingly frustrated with both major political parties. We can see that right now, with how popular Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is as a presidential candidate.
The Chief Justice position is ideally supposed to be a non-partisan position in the court, with the Chief Justice considering each situation that arises independently of all others and forming an opinion based on the case's individual merits. But Doug points out, and rightly so, that partisan politics all too often creep into the job. That is why he wants to be a true independent in the race and keep party politics out of the Montana Supreme Court to the best of his ability. He notes that he has voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past. He has over thirty years of experience in Montana's criminal and civil law fields. He is proud of being a fifth-generation Montanan, originally having lived in Fox and Boyd, which are in Carbon County. Marshall wishes to level the playing field in the Montana Supreme Court and bring the true neutrality and impartiality it needs. He notes, “My soul is not for sale.” Equally impressive is that he has not chosen to throw dirt at his opponents and is running a clean political race. His campaign website is being built now. As soon as it is up and running, Montanans from all walks of life owe it to themselves to look at this candidate, who offers an alternative to the Democrat/Republican political dichotomy.
Sadly, McGrath is THE most political and left wing(nut) chief justice ever to sit in that seat.