Montana Supreme Court forum sparks key discussions

The Montana Supreme Court is set for a shakeup as two sitting justices prepare to step down in the fall of 2024.

On Sept. 26, MSU hosted the four candidates for the two open positions at the Montana Supreme Court Candidate Forum, an event held in Gaines Hall by the MSU Pre-Law Club in collaboration with the Gallatin County Bar Association (GCBA).

The candidates present at the forum were Dan Wilson and Katherine Bidegaray — who are both running for seat three on the Montana Supreme Court — and Jerry Lynch and Cory Swanson, both of whom are vying for the chief justice seat.

“So, the [GCBA] reached out to the Pre-Law Club and asked if we would like to co-host the event, so we hosted it at MSU,” said Magnolia Hawbaker, a political science major and the online manager for the Pre-Law Club, who worked with the GCBA to coordinate the event. “It was an awesome collaboration for us students to be kind of friendly with the local attorneys.”

According to Wilson’s campaign website, he has practiced law in Montana since 1993 and currently serves as a district court judge in Montana’s 11th Judicial District. Before that, he held a position as justice of the peace in Flathead County. According to Bidegaray’s campaign website, she is also from Montana and worked in the legal practice for 17 years as an attorney before being elected as a district court judge in Montana’s 7th Judicial District.

At the event, the candidates answered questions which the GCBA and Pre-Law Club had written together and provided to them before arriving.

Wilson and Bidegaray went first, answering questions that ranged from their personal experience, legal precedent as a concept, state vs. federal authority and the judiciary's role in addressing significant public policy issues such as abortion, climate change and voting rights.

“Those issues are policy issues left to the other branches of government,” Bidegaray said in her response to a question about public policy, adding that when questions about the constitutionality of laws enacted by the legislative or executive branch arise, the judiciary has a responsibility to examine both sides of the argument.

“These issues, the leadership on them, come from the people through their elected representatives and it's not appropriate for any justice or any judge to get out ahead of the public debate,” Wilson said when asked the same question.

After Wilson and Bidegaray finished their discussion, Lynch and his opponent for the chief justice seat, Swanson, stepped up to the podiums — though Lynch attended virtually.

“I have more experience, certainly than Mr. Swanson, and that's not a degrading remark,” Lynch said in his closing remark. “I have more experience and as much experience as anybody in the state of Montana, in terms of legal experience and legal scholarship.”

According to the Montana Free Press (MFP) Voter Guide, Lynch is a former federal magistrate judge and will be 73 at the time of the election. On the other hand, Swanson, age 47, is the current Broadwater County attorney and has experience as an attorney and prosecutor, but does not have any judicial experience. Additionally, he has served with the Montana National Guard since 1997.

“Judge Lynch has been criticizing the legislature for an entire year,” Swanson said in response to a question about the judiciary’s place in protecting individual rights and liberties. “And I understand that there is, he is concerned with things they did back in 2021. I am concerned about things that will happen in 2025. I want to know that we have an impartial Supreme Court to deal with whatever those issues are going to be.”

Swanson was referring to an ongoing dispute between the Republican legislature in Montana and their judicial counterparts. In April of 2024, leadership from Montana Senate Republicans initiated their second committee to investigate judicial overreach since 2021, according to the MFP.

“I’m not that combative with the legislature. What I have said from day one, contrary to Mr. Swanson, is that I will stand toe to toe with the legislature to protect the independence of the judiciary,” Lynch said immediately following Swanson’s response. “I believe the legislature is attempting to make a power grab, that the court is what's left to protect that.”

In his closing remarks, Swanson said that Lynch’s experience may actually be a shortcoming. “If we think we know enough, if we think we are the smartest, if we think we’ve seen this a hundred times before and therefore we don’t be our very best — then at that point we begin being worse at our job rather than better. So, commitment to learning is what I pledge to each and every one of you,” he said.

To find out more about Wilson, Bidegaray, Swanson and Lynch’s candidacy, head to MFP Voter’s Guide linked here https://apps.montanafreepress.org/election-guide-2024/.