Court rejects appeal for full hearing on contribution limit

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A federal court has rejected Montana's request to rehear its defense of state campaign contribution limits.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that none of its 44 judges moved to reconsider the case that the court already decided was tried on out-of-date standards. A panel of three federal judges ruled in May that a state District Court must re-examine the constitutionality of Montana's contribution limits based on legal tests outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling.

"That last hearing was hasty, just before the (2012) election, and as you can see from this decision the legal standards it was reviewed by were murky," Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said of the original decision by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell of Helena.

Anita Y. Milanovich, an attorney at Bopp Law Firm representing the plaintiffs, said the people and political action committees seeking to overturn Montana's contribution limits agreed with the circuit court's May ruling and are pleased it will not reconsider.

(Full story in Wednesday's Havre Daily News.)