What's wrong with our Montana Supreme Court?

As I travel around the state to meet with Montanans, I’m often asked, “What’s wrong with our current Supreme Court?” My answer is simple.

Some of our judges — including my opponent — are putting politics before the law. My opponent has a long partisan history, including repeatedly seeking office as a partisan elected official and even impermissibly donating to a Democratic ally after becoming a Montana Supreme Court Justice. He hasn’t put that partisanship aside on the bench.

A judge’s job is to apply the law, not change the law to suit his own personal or partisan agenda. Driven by his own personal and partisan agenda, my opponent allows those preferences to drive the result in some cases, instead of simply applying the law as written by the people or legislature. That is unfair and wrong.

It also makes Montana’s highest court unpredictable. When court decisions are results-oriented, instead of driven by the law, those decisions become unpredictable.

Montana’s Supreme Court is well known for frequently ignoring its own precedent and overturning previous court decisions. This unpredictability prevents Montana families and businesses from knowing how they will be treated in our court system, which leads to more litigation that imposes additional costs on the people of Montana.

Most Montanans will never be before the Montana Supreme Court. But an unpredictable and unfair court still affects us all, by driving up costs and creating uncertainty for everyone.

To return predictability to Montana’s legal system, our court must be as impartial as possible, with all personal preferences and motives left at the door. Justices must not be beholden to special interests or personal agendas, but rather to the laws as passed by the people. That’s how I believe our court must be, and that’s why I’m running for Montana Supreme Court justice.

I’m a fifth generation Montanan who graduated from Montana State University with a master’s degree in engineering and obtained a law degree with high honors from Harvard Law School. In my career, I have represented a diverse set of public and private clients. I have successfully challenged and defended both state and federal laws, and have even practiced law before the U.S. Supreme Court on numerous occasions. I have never sought or held political office.

Since law school, my career has always been focused on Constitutional law. At its core, our Constitution is the rule book by which all laws are judged. The Montana Supreme Court is intended to be where our best referees interpret those rules — impartially. Personal feelings or politics should have no place in those decisions.

I contend that the Montana Supreme Court is there to apply the law and Constitution, not re-write it. As Montana’s Solicitor General, I always let the law guide my actions. As a Montana Supreme Court justice, you have my word that I will continue this practice.

I would appreciate your support and ask that on Election Day you vote for the law, not more politics. For more information, please visit my Web site www.VanDykeforJustice.com.

Lawrence VanDyke is a candidate for the Montana Supreme Court.