Don't let them politicize the courts

“Let’s kill all the lawyers.” These words, spoken by Dick the Butcher in Henry “VI,” are one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines. Dick is a rough character, a killer as evil as his name implies. He and his band of pretenders to the throne know they’ll be able to take over the population with ease if there are not lawyers and judges able to stand up for people’s rights, uphold the law, and oppose mobs.

Attacking lawyers and judges is an age-old diversion used by those seeking to avoid facing their own shortcomings. Montana Republicans are now invoking Dick the Butcher’s ploy to divert attention from the crises they have created: causing property taxes to soar, not addressing the rising cost of living for Montana families, and blowing through a $2.5 billion budget surplus by showering the wealthy and corporations with tax breaks.

Republicans held all the cards by occupying every statewide office and supermajorities in the legislature these last four years, so they cannot escape responsibility for creating these crises. Taking a page out of Dick the Butcher’s playbook, Republicans formed a special committee which produced 27 bills attacking our judges and lawyers. As the session begins, the incoming Senate President and Speaker of the House have fired a shot across the bow, publicly warning our Supreme Court justices to “buckle up” for the onslaught of these bills.

Many of these bills seek to replace Montana’s impartial courts with politicized judges. They would allow political parties to fund judicial races and make non-partisan judges run for office on party lines. Some seek to limit the Supreme Court’s ability to impartially enforce our constitution.

If we want to improve our courts, we should work together on legislation which strengthens existing prohibitions on political influence in our courts. Republicans seek to do exactly the opposite by increasing politicization and turning the courts into agents of political divisiveness that already pervade so much of our lives.

What’s more, some of these Republican bills attack the Montana Bar and lawyers who are sworn to uphold the rule of law. In a recent op-ed by Sen. John Fuller (R-Kalispell), written on behalf of the Republican party, he proposes to end the role of the Montana Bar in governing lawyer conduct and requiring that lawyers abide by ethical rules adopted by the Supreme Court.

This is a frontal assault on Montana’s constitution, which grants only the Supreme Court the authority to “govern admission to the bar and the conduct of its members.” If passed, this bill will no doubt be declared unconstitutional, though not until many thousands of taxpayer dollars are wasted defending this unconstitutional diversion tactic.

The guardrails which guarantee a fair and impartial judiciary and lawyers who will defend the rule of law are our strongest defense against characters like Dick the Butcher who would run roughshod over the law. As Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens explained  in a 1985 decision referencing Dick’s words: “Shakespeare insightfully realized that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government.”

Freedom and democracy depend on the fair and impartial application of the rule of law by our courts and the attorneys who practice before them. The 27 Republican bills seek to thrust a dagger through the impartiality and independence of our courts and, by extension, our freedoms and democracy. We would all be better off if they instead joined Democrats to strengthen existing prohibitions that protect our courts from political influence, and put Montanans first by remedying the crises they have created for ordinary families.

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Rep. Ed Stafman, D-Bozeman HD #59

Rep. Alanah Griffith, D-Big Sky HD #60