Juras stumps for Montana Supreme Court seat

A diverse court is a good court, said Kristen Juras.

Juras, an attorney from Great Falls and a University of Montana law professor, said she is taking that message throughout the state as she campaigns for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court.

She is running for the seat occupied by Patricia O'Brien Cotter, who is retiring after serving two eight-year terms.

Juras is going up against Cascade County District Court Judge Dirk Sandefur and attorney Eric Mills, both of whom are also from Great Falls, in the 2016 nonpartisan judicial elections.

The three will face off in the June 7 primary. The top two vote getters will run in the November general election.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Juras said she would bring a type of expertise to the bench which it is currently lacking.

"I believe that the court would benefit from the diversity of an attorney with 34 years experience representing small business owners, farmers and ranchers," she said.

People she meets seem receptive to her message, she said, especially the idea of having a justice who has a background in legal issues involving agriculture.

Juras was born and raised in Conrad, often spending summers in Havre working in her uncle's livestock yard.

She is a graduate of the University of Montana and of the University of Georgia School of Law.

Juras has worked in international law for firms in Paris and Atlanta, on legal issues pertaining to immigration, trade and foreign investments in U.S. manufacturing facilities.

She later moved to Oklahoma, practicing law in the areas of business, oil, gas, taxes and estate planning.

After moving back to Montana in 1988, she continued her legal career, and in 2000 began teaching courses in multiple areas of law at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at UM.

Juras has published articles and authored textbooks on a wide range of legal subjects and said each year she provides hundreds of hours of pro bono work.

Juras said that the court is not a body entrusted with fashioning policy, but applying the law consistently and as it pertains to the state constitution.

"My judicial philosophy is one of restraint and applying the laws adopted by the Legislature other than creating new laws," Juras said, "Protecting constitutional rights instead of creating new constitutional rights."

Her opponent Mills, a former student of Juras', entered the race in late March.

Juras said she has not discussed the race with Mills but has always encouraged her students to contribute to the community or run for public office in a way that best suits them.

She said that she likes the competition.

Juras is also going up against Sandefur, a former Havre Police officer turned county attorney and now a state District Court judge in Cascade County.

"My opponent is a person who is a lawyer who doesn't have any sort of the kind of experience I have," Sandefur said of Juras at a Havre campaign fundraiser in February. "She is not a courtroom lawyer. She is an office practiced attorney - never even tried or handled a large variety of the type of court cases that come before the court."

Juras said that characterization is not true.

"Not only do I have courtroom experiences, I have experiences with matters before administrative agencies whether that's the tax appeal board, whether that is another administrative state or federal agency," she said. "I have done many hearings before the IRS on tax matters. So it's simply not correct that I don't have courtroom experience."

Juras said being a candidate in a judicial race is different from running for any other elected office.

Under the state's judicial code of conduct, candidates running for the court can't seek or accept endorsements of a political party or other partisan elected officials or express positions on matters that might come before the court.

That means questions related to public policy, ones on which people often base who they cast their ballot for, don't really apply.

"It's harder in the sense 'What do you ask a justice' is a series of questions that most voters - it's harder for them to come up with the questions," Juras said.

But supplanting those questions in this different type of contest she said, are often questions about how the election of a Supreme Court justice works such as whether justices are elected by district or statewide, or the length of a term on the Supreme Court.

The decision to elect rather than have lifetime appointments for justices was hotly debated by those at the 1972 Montana state constitutional convention.

"There's advantages and disadvantages to both the elective process and the appointed process," Juras said.

However, she said, it is ultimately the decision of the voters as decided at the 1972 state constitutional convention.

Certain elements of a traditional political campaign remain.

Like with other elections, independent expenditures or outside interest groups commonly known as Super PACs, often pour money into races either on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate.

Juras said she and Sandefur met before she entered the race and agreed not to engage in a negative campaign.

But, Juras said, though she may not want it, she and other candidates can't force the groups to cease their attacks on opposing campaigns.

She said in some cases she would be willing to publicly condemn a group that was airing ads or launching attacks against Sandefur or Mills, but the groups - so long as they abide by the law - are protected.

Such attacks can be frustrating, she said, often throwing candidates off message or forcing them to expend resources in ways they might not otherwise do.

Juras said that following a U.S Supreme Court case in 2009 known as Citizens United, such groups are within their rights.