HELENA, MT (Legal Newsline) - The Montana Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits James Brown, or any other judicial candidate, to seek the endorsement of a political party. But that hasn’t stopped leading state Republicans from endorsing the conservative Brown, an attorney and president of the state Public Service Commission, for the state Supreme Court.
Brown is in a three way race with incumbent Justice Ingrid Gustafson and Mike McMahon, a district court judge.
In a May 9 commentary, Speaker of the House Wylie Galt and Senate President Mark Blasdel wrote that Gustafson is one of the most liberal judges on the bench and has “made a career out of being soft on criminals and legislating from the bench to support her liberal donors.”
James Brown
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Brown, they wrote, “will uphold the law and not legislate from the bench, and will certainly not be another political activist judge.”
“His experience as chairman of the PSC has already given him insight into settling disputes between a broad range of people in a fair and impartial manner and we know he will take that experience and put it to good use, for all Montanans, on the Supreme Court.”
Brown has also received the support of the Montana Republican Party Executive Board.
“The court has become politicized as the last lever of power for the Democratic party in Montana, and the last thing Montanans want is six more years of another liberal activist judge,” said Montana Republican Party Chairman Don “K” Kaltschmidt, in a statement released at the time of the late March endorsement.
“Commissioner Brown will uphold the Constitution, stand for law and order, and never legislate from the bench,” Kaltschmidt added. “Electing Jim Brown, a true constitutional conservative to the Montana Supreme Court, will begin to restore integrity and confidence in Montana’s Judicial system.”
For his part, the age 51 year-old Brown has steered clear of partisan politics. He told Montana Talks on March 15 that, “…the Montana Supreme Court is notorious for having a reputation of adjudicating from the bench, legislating from the bench, and not adhering to precedent.”
He continued: “I think one of the best measures for where our court is - the Montana Chamber of Commerce did a judicial review and there was only one of the seven justices that even scored a B on their judicial scorecard for protecting businesses in Montana, and that says a lot about how the court has ruled in the last two decades.”
In 2021, the American Tort Reform Association placed the Montana Supreme Court on its “Judicial Hellholes” lists for showing “a willingness to exercise personal jurisdiction without any link between conduct that occurred in Montana and the plaintiff’s injuries.”
It has also “opened the door to lawsuits against workers’ compensation insurers” and made other decisions that tilted the scales towards the trial bar over business.
Brown, according to his campaign website, is a fourth-generation Montanan who has “practiced before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal District Court of Montana, the Montana Supreme Court and in various state district courts around Montana – from Lincoln County to Daniels County. He has represented a variety of clients on matters ranging from family law to complex environmental law and regulation.”