January 05, 2012 04:50 AM UTC

Montana high court upholds ban on corporate political donations in Western Trad Partnership ruling

•  
• by: Awen

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

This was on the Huffington Post today and caught my attention because of the plaintiffs – Western Tradition Partnership, once tied to our oh-so-squeaky clean Secretary of State, Scott Gessler.

(he was once the registered agent and/or lead attorney for WTP)

Congrats to the Montana Supremes; it would be nice to see our own Supreme Court do the same, if given the opportunity…

By a 5-2 vote this past Friday, the Montana Supreme Court declined to recognize the common understanding that Citizens United bars all laws limiting independent electoral spending. Instead, Chief Justice Mike McGrath, writing on behalf of the majority, called on the history surrounding the state law to show that corporate money, even if not directly contributed to a campaign, can give rise to corruption.

Colorado is one of 24 states that do NOT allow corporate donations, but in the wake of Citizens United, that was thrown out the window. At least until last Friday, when Montana’s justices said, “um, no.”