Balyeat Strikes Again!!
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:25 pm
We ought to be ashamed that this idiot represents Bozo in the Legislature....
Republicans considering bills that would limit justices' terms, cut pay
By JENNIFER McKEE of the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - Lawmakers are pondering a slurry of bills that aim to radically alter the Montana Supreme Court, including one that would slash high court justices' pay to that of a typical district court office assistant.
The bills, most sponsored by Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, and other conservative GOP lawmakers, come in the wake of several politically important Supreme Court decisions. Just days before the Legislature convened, the high court ruled that the Montana University System wrongly denied benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. The court also threw out one or more contested ballots in a Lake County legislative race, thus giving one more seat in the House to Democrats and taking away a clear Republican House majority there.
Balyeat's bills, some of which are merely requests for bills at this stage in the process, span the gamut:
n Supreme Court deliberations would be open to the public. Currently, they are closed.
n Justices would be elected from regions of the state. Currently, they are elected statewide.
n Justices would run with political party affiliation. Currently, those seeking Supreme Court seats run as nonpartisan - they're not associated with the Democrat or Republican or any other political party.
n Justices would be paid the same rate as legislators: about $20,000 a year, plus living expenses, slightly less than the wage office assistants of Montana's District Court judges make.
n The governor and Legislature could overrule the Supreme Court. Currently, the court is the final arbiter on whether any action adheres to the Montana Constitution.
n Justices would have the same campaign finance caps as legislators. Currently, justices are capped at the same rate as other statewide offices at $250 per person. Legislative candidates have a cap of $130 per donor.
n Justices would not have to be lawyers. Currently, only attorneys who have taken and passed the state bar test can run for the Montana Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is also head of the state bar. Balyeat's bill, should it become law, would have non-lawyers governing the practice of law.
n Put limits on the number of terms justices may serve.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, has requested a bill that would ban lawyers from donating to the campaigns of candidates for Supreme Court justice, an act he acknowledges would violate the free speech rights of lawyers. Koopman said there is a compelling state interest of barring lawyers, but not their corporate or citizen clients, from donating to judicial races to protect the truth and appearance that justice is not for sale.
Balyeat said his bills are designed with one goal in mind: Treat the Supreme Court like the Legislature. The high court consistently "legislates from the bench," said Balyeat, a certified public accountant. If the justices want to make law, he said, they should be treated like the Legislature.
As it stands, he said, the top court is left wing, and too many of its members are from "inside the beltway" with "big city backgrounds." They don't represent everyday Montanans, but are a ruling class unto themselves, and they don't have to work under the laws they make, Balyeat said. That's why he wants the justices to be elected from regions, he said, to make sure they come from all parts of the state, not just big cities.
However, none of Montana's seven Supreme Court justices are from the state's biggest cities - Billings and Missoula - and many are from towns of less than 25,000 people. Chief Justice Karla Gray was born and raised in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and has spent most of her adult life in Butte and Helena. Justice Bill Leaphart grew up in Helena and lives there now.
Justice Brian Morris was born in Whitehall, raised in Butte and spent most of his adult life in Bozeman and Helena. Justice John Warner was born and raised in Great Falls and spent most of his adult life in Havre. Justice Jim Nelson was born and raised in rural Idaho and spent most of his adult life in Cut Bank. Justice Jim Rice grew up in Glasgow and has spent most of his adult life in Helena. Justice Patricia Cotter doesn't actually live "inside the beltway" in Helena, but commutes from Great Falls. She is from South Bend, Ind.
Balyeat said those communities are "big city" - even Havre, with a population of 9,448, according to the latest U.S. census figures. And he said the proposal is not necessarily aimed at the current court.
As for the pay issue, Balyeat said Montanans designed the Legislature so its 150 members are citizens and workers first, and lawmakers second. That's one reason they don't make very much money, only $76.80 per working day to serve at the Legislature. But justices who earn $95,492 are paid so well, Balyeat said, "they are a privileged class."
"At the enormous salaries they receive right now, they're making roughly four times the average Montanan," he said.
In a prepared statement, Balyeat argued that justices should have to work outside the court as their primary livelihood. Cut the pay, Balyeat said, and they'd have to work in the private sector to make ends meet.
Asked if slashing Supreme Court pay would result in a situation where only independently wealthy people could afford to serve on the top court, Balyeat said it wouldn't result in more a "privileged class than what we have now."
Many of Balyeat's ideas would require changing the state constitution. The Montana Constitution requires that justices pass the state bar exam before they can serve on the top court. They are forbidden from practicing law or otherwise working for pay while in office, and they are forbidden from holding office in a political party.
The constitution also forbids the Legislature and the governor from overriding Supreme Court decisions. Lawmakers cannot by themselves change the constitution, but can approve measures to be presented to all Montana voters for constitutional changes. Even that would take a difficult-to-achieve two-thirds vote by all members of the Senate and the House, or 100 votes total.
Balyeat said he suspects his bills don't stand a chance of passing. But he said the Supreme Court is in need of some changes.
"Montanans do not want to be ruled by a professional class of rulemakers," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Jon Ellingson, a Missoula attorney, said Balyeat obviously doesn't understand the importance of three distinct branches of government.
"There has always been tension between democracy and what some would call the rule of the mob and the rule of law," Ellingson said. "There are those times when what is popular for the day comes crashing against the rights of individual citizens."
That is when an independent judiciary - which answers only to the law and the basic rights of citizens enshrined in the constitution - stands the strongest. The judiciary stands as a tempering agent between the rights of the individual and the will of the majority.
"If we had a court that looked like the Legislature and was influenced by the popular opinions, it would be not only wrong, but disastrous," Ellingson said.
Chief Justice Gray said she would not comment specifically on many of Balyeat's ideas. Lawmakers are free to pass any kind of law they want, she said.
But she said that many attacks on the court show an inherent, general misunderstanding about what the Montana Supreme Court really does. The court's main job is to interpret and apply the law, including the Montana Constitution. That means the court must decide if district courts correctly followed the law in trials, divorces and other legal disputes. And the court is sometimes called upon to decide if bills the Legislature passed uphold the rights of the people guaranteed in the constitution. If they do not, those laws are ruled unconstitutional.
The court doesn't make law in the same way the Legislature does, she said. It only decides if laws on the books adhere to the state constitution. If someone challenges the constitutionality of a law in court and the case works its way up to the Supreme Court, the justices must decide if the law passes constitutional muster. If they determine that it doesn't, the law is struck down.
When that happens, she said, future Legislatures usually try to rewrite the law in a way that does adhere to the constitution.
Justices are not representatives of the people in the same way legislators are, she said. Justices are elected by the people, they come from the people and they interpret the people's documents. But they are not chosen to represent a specific geographic region or a certain group of people, other than Montanans, in general.
"Legislators are free to bring up whatever bill they want and they are entirely free to try to get them passed," said Gray. But she added that one of the strengths of Montana's system of government is that the judicial branch is intended to be independent.
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Republicans considering bills that would limit justices' terms, cut pay
By JENNIFER McKEE of the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - Lawmakers are pondering a slurry of bills that aim to radically alter the Montana Supreme Court, including one that would slash high court justices' pay to that of a typical district court office assistant.
The bills, most sponsored by Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, and other conservative GOP lawmakers, come in the wake of several politically important Supreme Court decisions. Just days before the Legislature convened, the high court ruled that the Montana University System wrongly denied benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. The court also threw out one or more contested ballots in a Lake County legislative race, thus giving one more seat in the House to Democrats and taking away a clear Republican House majority there.
Balyeat's bills, some of which are merely requests for bills at this stage in the process, span the gamut:
n Supreme Court deliberations would be open to the public. Currently, they are closed.
n Justices would be elected from regions of the state. Currently, they are elected statewide.
n Justices would run with political party affiliation. Currently, those seeking Supreme Court seats run as nonpartisan - they're not associated with the Democrat or Republican or any other political party.
n Justices would be paid the same rate as legislators: about $20,000 a year, plus living expenses, slightly less than the wage office assistants of Montana's District Court judges make.
n The governor and Legislature could overrule the Supreme Court. Currently, the court is the final arbiter on whether any action adheres to the Montana Constitution.
n Justices would have the same campaign finance caps as legislators. Currently, justices are capped at the same rate as other statewide offices at $250 per person. Legislative candidates have a cap of $130 per donor.
n Justices would not have to be lawyers. Currently, only attorneys who have taken and passed the state bar test can run for the Montana Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is also head of the state bar. Balyeat's bill, should it become law, would have non-lawyers governing the practice of law.
n Put limits on the number of terms justices may serve.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, has requested a bill that would ban lawyers from donating to the campaigns of candidates for Supreme Court justice, an act he acknowledges would violate the free speech rights of lawyers. Koopman said there is a compelling state interest of barring lawyers, but not their corporate or citizen clients, from donating to judicial races to protect the truth and appearance that justice is not for sale.
Balyeat said his bills are designed with one goal in mind: Treat the Supreme Court like the Legislature. The high court consistently "legislates from the bench," said Balyeat, a certified public accountant. If the justices want to make law, he said, they should be treated like the Legislature.
As it stands, he said, the top court is left wing, and too many of its members are from "inside the beltway" with "big city backgrounds." They don't represent everyday Montanans, but are a ruling class unto themselves, and they don't have to work under the laws they make, Balyeat said. That's why he wants the justices to be elected from regions, he said, to make sure they come from all parts of the state, not just big cities.
However, none of Montana's seven Supreme Court justices are from the state's biggest cities - Billings and Missoula - and many are from towns of less than 25,000 people. Chief Justice Karla Gray was born and raised in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and has spent most of her adult life in Butte and Helena. Justice Bill Leaphart grew up in Helena and lives there now.
Justice Brian Morris was born in Whitehall, raised in Butte and spent most of his adult life in Bozeman and Helena. Justice John Warner was born and raised in Great Falls and spent most of his adult life in Havre. Justice Jim Nelson was born and raised in rural Idaho and spent most of his adult life in Cut Bank. Justice Jim Rice grew up in Glasgow and has spent most of his adult life in Helena. Justice Patricia Cotter doesn't actually live "inside the beltway" in Helena, but commutes from Great Falls. She is from South Bend, Ind.
Balyeat said those communities are "big city" - even Havre, with a population of 9,448, according to the latest U.S. census figures. And he said the proposal is not necessarily aimed at the current court.
As for the pay issue, Balyeat said Montanans designed the Legislature so its 150 members are citizens and workers first, and lawmakers second. That's one reason they don't make very much money, only $76.80 per working day to serve at the Legislature. But justices who earn $95,492 are paid so well, Balyeat said, "they are a privileged class."
"At the enormous salaries they receive right now, they're making roughly four times the average Montanan," he said.
In a prepared statement, Balyeat argued that justices should have to work outside the court as their primary livelihood. Cut the pay, Balyeat said, and they'd have to work in the private sector to make ends meet.
Asked if slashing Supreme Court pay would result in a situation where only independently wealthy people could afford to serve on the top court, Balyeat said it wouldn't result in more a "privileged class than what we have now."
Many of Balyeat's ideas would require changing the state constitution. The Montana Constitution requires that justices pass the state bar exam before they can serve on the top court. They are forbidden from practicing law or otherwise working for pay while in office, and they are forbidden from holding office in a political party.
The constitution also forbids the Legislature and the governor from overriding Supreme Court decisions. Lawmakers cannot by themselves change the constitution, but can approve measures to be presented to all Montana voters for constitutional changes. Even that would take a difficult-to-achieve two-thirds vote by all members of the Senate and the House, or 100 votes total.
Balyeat said he suspects his bills don't stand a chance of passing. But he said the Supreme Court is in need of some changes.
"Montanans do not want to be ruled by a professional class of rulemakers," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Jon Ellingson, a Missoula attorney, said Balyeat obviously doesn't understand the importance of three distinct branches of government.
"There has always been tension between democracy and what some would call the rule of the mob and the rule of law," Ellingson said. "There are those times when what is popular for the day comes crashing against the rights of individual citizens."
That is when an independent judiciary - which answers only to the law and the basic rights of citizens enshrined in the constitution - stands the strongest. The judiciary stands as a tempering agent between the rights of the individual and the will of the majority.
"If we had a court that looked like the Legislature and was influenced by the popular opinions, it would be not only wrong, but disastrous," Ellingson said.
Chief Justice Gray said she would not comment specifically on many of Balyeat's ideas. Lawmakers are free to pass any kind of law they want, she said.
But she said that many attacks on the court show an inherent, general misunderstanding about what the Montana Supreme Court really does. The court's main job is to interpret and apply the law, including the Montana Constitution. That means the court must decide if district courts correctly followed the law in trials, divorces and other legal disputes. And the court is sometimes called upon to decide if bills the Legislature passed uphold the rights of the people guaranteed in the constitution. If they do not, those laws are ruled unconstitutional.
The court doesn't make law in the same way the Legislature does, she said. It only decides if laws on the books adhere to the state constitution. If someone challenges the constitutionality of a law in court and the case works its way up to the Supreme Court, the justices must decide if the law passes constitutional muster. If they determine that it doesn't, the law is struck down.
When that happens, she said, future Legislatures usually try to rewrite the law in a way that does adhere to the constitution.
Justices are not representatives of the people in the same way legislators are, she said. Justices are elected by the people, they come from the people and they interpret the people's documents. But they are not chosen to represent a specific geographic region or a certain group of people, other than Montanans, in general.
"Legislators are free to bring up whatever bill they want and they are entirely free to try to get them passed," said Gray. But she added that one of the strengths of Montana's system of government is that the judicial branch is intended to be independent.
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