The March 23, the Helena Independent Record reported that the state Legislature had decided to keep on the books, as part of Montana’s Code, the “Clean Campaign Act,” which federal District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy ruled last year was unconstitutional, as violating the First Amendment.
According to the report, Montana’s Legislature decided that the court “wander[ed] out of its lane” when it ruled on the constitutionality of the law passed by the Legislature.
The Legislature has a short memory, indeed. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case in January 2010, Western [American] Tradition Partnership, a conservative, dark money organization challenged Montana’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act as being in violation of the high court’s decision. The Montana Supreme Court ruled that Montana’s Act was not controlled by Citizens United for reasons unique to this State — a sort of “made in Montana” argument. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, ruling summarily: “Montana’s arguments in support of the judgment below either were already rejected in Citizens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case… The judgment of the Supreme Court of Montana is reversed.”
