Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
Montana’s Attorney General, Tim Fox, conceded yesterday that Matt Monforton, the conservative attorney running for the Republican nomination in HD-69 (Bozeman area), would prevail in his quest to keep part of Montana’s MCA 13-35-225, Election materials not to be anonymous — statement of accuracy — notice — penalty, from being enforced, and committed the legal equivalent of throwing in the towel:
In the Answer, which is being filed concurrently with this Response, The State admits that the Statute, as amended, remains unconstitutionally vague. See Answer and Concession of Defendants (Doc. 18) at 2, ¶ 2, and 6, ¶ 21. The State does not intend to enforce the Statute.
That’s a start. The next step is repealing the offending section of the statute, an act more likely to occur if Monforton wins, but not that likely to occur at all because legislators, and not just in Montana, seem unable to resist the temptation to pass unconstitutional legislation that gives incumbents an advantage.