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Committee hears bill to route ballot-measure challenges through district courts
Summary
Senator Daniel Emmerich told the Judiciary Committee SB 13 would send legal sufficiency challenges to district courts for fact-finding before appeal to the Montana Supreme Court. Civil liberties groups, the ACLU, and advocacy organizations urged a "do not pass," saying the change would add delay and burden already-stretched district courts.
Senator Daniel Emmerich, sponsor of Senate Bill 13, told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill would eliminate the Montana Supreme Court's original jurisdiction over legal sufficiency challenges to ballot measures so those cases would go first to district courts, allowing fact-finding there and permitting appeal to the Supreme Court if parties choose.
Supporters of maintaining the status quo pushed back. Henry Seaton of the ACLU of Montana argued the change "is a solution in search…
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