(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana lawmakers love talking about the Constitution, but seem loathe to follow it – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'April', 'Darrell Ehrlick'] Date: 2023-04-06 Senate Joint Resolution 15 is as toothless as it is misguided – not to mention a dim-witted piece of revisionist history. Yet insofar as it misapprehends the bedrock of our constitutional republic, it’s also an adequate illustration of the disease that has infected legislatures across the country, Montana included. If you’re not familiar with SJ 15, it was introduced by a cadre of legislators, including Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, who expresses such profound fidelity to the U.S. Constitution that he called on a convention to change it; or Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, whose leadership in the Senate Judiciary included trying to illegally subpoena the entire Montana Supreme Court. Forgive me if I distrust the constitutional interpretation and role of case law, sponsored by five men, none of whom have attended law school. The resolution declares that just because the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison doesn’t overtly state that the Supreme Court of the United States shall be the final word when it comes to interpreting laws and their constitutionality, that the courts are not the final word on the legality of any lawmaker’s bill. Instead, SJ 15 boldly reinterprets the entire history of American jurisprudence, and asserts that all those black-robed jurists have – for centuries – gotten it wrong, and now lawmakers like Barry Usher, a Harley-Davidson dealer, and Greg Hertz, a grocery store owner, have gotten it correct: “The belief that the court has exclusive authority to interpret the constitution and that its decisions are binding on the other two branches is a myth based on a faulty understanding of Marbury v. Madison.” Who – you might ask – should be able to interpret the laws of lawmakers? Not surprisingly, the answer is the lawmakers themselves. Clever in this fantasy world that the lawmakers get to rule on their own laws. “The Legislature and the executive have equal roles in determining the constitutionality of any statute or decision,” the resolution said. Under this scenario, it’s not only hard imagining any plaintiff would win against lawmakers interpreting laws they created, it also seems pointless to even have courts. Remember, this is legislation from Regier who toyed with legislation that would declare since all court rulings are called “opinions,” they should be regarded as merely advisory and non-binding. I can only imagine the howls from these same lawmakers if former Montana governors Steve Bullock or Brian Schweitzer, both Democrats, had a co-equal ability to interpret the state’s laws and constitution. And that’s exactly the problem: This isn’t just ridiculous policy and insult to the concept of shared constitutional powers, which includes checks and balances, it’s a sham meant to confuse. Legislatures pass laws; the executive branch carries them out and administers the laws and policies; and the judiciary interprets and rules on them. That’s the separation of powers with built-in checks and balances. It’s impossible to tell if the lawmakers who are behind the legislation, which includes 28 Montana Senators, are really so clueless. If so, then the real priority should be dumping gobs of the state’s surplus money straight into public schools and start hiring more civics teachers. Instead, I’ll bet their behavior can be more easily understood by watching grade-schoolers. Like any school-aged child, the Montana Legislature has been stung repeatedly by the judiciary standing up for constitutional principles, and this is legislative payback. Rather than heed the advice of their own lawyers, who have faithfully and repeatedly warned them that laws they’ve contemplated in the last couple of sessions appear to be unconstitutional, they would rather go after the judges. Lawmakers are given a wide berth to craft laws so long as they stay within of the constitution – a document which they often invoke but rarely respect. Montana has elected representatives who appear to care more about politics than principles, for example, the power of judicial review. Their grasp of civics is embarrassing, and SJ 15’s logical end, if it had any binding effect, would be a descent into chaos, where three different branches of the government might all interpret a law differently, resulting in a stand-off or a gunfight. In fact, they have so little respect for the law that one of their most recent legislative efforts, Senate Bill 557 actually commands judges to ignore well-established and long-standing Montana law. That’s like telling police to intentionally let drunk drivers go screeching by. The most pernicious aspect of this resolution to usurp judicial power is that it is the equivalent of legislative graffiti: Lawmakers simply could not codify such nonsense, and they could not fashion a government like SJ 15 envisions without making the legislature a dome of dictators. Instead, they’ve made it a resolution with no teeth, but all the corrosive power to undermine the judiciary. If the purpose of such laughable legislation is to register contempt or disagreement with the Montana Judiciary, sending a letter would have taken fewer taxpayer resources. And I am not sure after the cascade of stinging defeat the judiciary has been obligated to provide to stiff-necked Republicans that anyone doubts that some lawmakers are a bit peeved. However, a resolution like this does a disservice to Montanans who read legislation that so badly misinterprets fundamental American principles that it would only sow more division, confusion and give residents cause to wonder, if lawmakers don’t have to follow the law, why should we? When the lawmakers tell judges to ignore the law, the state of democracy under the Big Sky feels sick. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/04/06/montana-lawmakers-love-talking-about-the-constitution-but-seem-loathe-to-follow-it/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/