Montana Supreme Court looks at campaign finance case

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court is making it clear that it won't be easy to preserve Montana's century-old ban on corporate political spending.

Justices peppered Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock with questions during oral arguments Wednesday morning. Bullock is appealing a state judge's ruling that the ban is unconstitutional in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year on a related issue.

Justice James Nelson says he agrees with Bullock that the state's ban is needed to limit corruption. But he also says justices simply can't say the U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong on corporate spending and free speech.

But Nelson also had tough words for the conservative group seeking to undo the ban. He calls the three separate cases brought by American Tradition Partnership "hypocritical."