So, it’s getting close to election season, and thus I thought it’d be a good idea to start another series, this time looking at the Montana elections. All too often we neglect local elections in favor of obsessing over the more national ones. I intend to try to change that. So first, let’s look at the election for Seat 3 of the Montana Supreme Court, the only Supreme Court election that is contested this cycle (Mike McGrath is running unopposed for Chief Justice and James Shea is also unopposed for Seat 6). I’ll go over positions, endorsements, history, and then make my recommendation.

Justice Patricia Cotter is stepping down after 16 years on the MTSC, and has endorsed Cascade County District Judge Dirk Sandefur to replace her. Great Falls attorney and UM adjunct agricultural law professor Kristen Juras is the would-be jurist who is opposing Sandefur.

Let’s take a look at the candidates’ endorsements. Juras was endorsed by the Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Contractors’ Association, which historically tends to suggest a more pro-business approach. Sandefur has been endorsed by the Montana Sportsmen Alliance, the Montana Education Association, the Montana Federation of Teachers, and the Montana Conservation Voters.

Next, historical issues and leanings. Juras got involved in a very ugly incident involving the Kaimin in 2009, when she launched a widely criticized attack on a Kaimin sex and relationships column, “Bess Sex,” written by then-UM student Bess Davis (now Pallares). Juras claimed the column was “embarrassingly unprofessional,” and recently revived the issue in a Facebook post claiming that the column was discontinued “after the United States launched a comprehensive review of the University’s handling of sexual assault and harassment complaints,” that “all of the major newspapers refused to publish” the column, and that it was in essence generally tied to the sexual assault/harassment scandal’s origin.

This is patently false, as the column was discontinued when Davis graduated in 2009; Davis never attempted to syndicate the column, and thus could never have been turned down by whoever “all the major newspapers” were that Juras referenced; the review occurred in 2012, three years later; and in no way is a column centering on safe sex and the like an inspiration of rape (as Juras suggested back in 2009). Moreover, Juras accompanied this inflammatory and blatantly false attack on the Kaimin with a video of her poorly singing a parody of “Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Dr Hook, which is deserving of a strike against her on its own, even without looking at the patently false context.

Juras later deleted the video from her Facebook page, but it’s been shared numerous times and wasn’t that hard to track down. In addition to slamming the Kaimin with false claims, Juras has come out in opposition to birth control. Juras has also questioned stream access laws and their impacts on property rights, siding in favor of landowners over those who would use Montana’s public resources. In addition, she has personally opposed same sex marriage, as well as the aforementioned reproductive rights statements.

On to Sandefur. Sandefur, unlike Juras, has a website that is not actually a Facebook page, so I was able to see more of his positions actively stated, as opposed to long rambling statements about his father’s cowboying skills or invitations to meet-and-greets, as Juras’ page seems to be heavily biased towards. Sandefur has held his position as 8^th District Judge in Great Falls since 2002, winning three straight terms, the last two unopposed. Again, outgoing Justice Cotter endorsed Sandefur for her seat. Prior to serving as a district judge, Sandefur spent eight years as a deputy Cascade County attorney and three years prior to that as a police officer for the city of Havre, as well as working for a private law firm and as a public defender. Unlike Juras, he has yet to be embroiled in any major public scandals.

On a candidate-to-candidate basis, this nonpartisan election has been quite civil. Juras and Sandefur have known each other for years. However, it is my opinion that many of Juras’ positions disqualify her from holding this office. I can see no other route than recommending District Judge Dirk Sandefur of Great Falls for the position of MT Supreme Court Justice. Sandefur has far more experience in public service, a proven track record, and no documented history of inflammatory, flatly incorrect, or backward positions or scandals.

Sources:

Missoulian

Krtv.com

Kbzk.com

Great Falls Tribune

Helena Independent Record

Montana Kaimin

Candidates’ websites (Juras has a campaign Facebook page, Sandefur a private website)

Ballotpedia.org

Montana Public Radio

Rawstory.com

Votesmart.org