Opinion

Editor, Opponents of the two ballot initiatives to open up Montana’s election system are entitled to prefer the status quo, but it’s sad to see disinformation used in their advocacy. Here are principal claims being used, followed by reality. Claim: Montana already has open primaries. Reality: Although Montana voters can choose which party’s primary ballot to complete, they are legally prohibited from casting votes for, say, a Republican for office A and a Democrat for office B. This unnecessarily restricts voters from expressing their preferences. Claim: The initiatives are radical experiments funded by leftist billionaires. Reality: Efforts are led by a bipartisan grou...

Editor, I have just returned from Asheville, North Carolina, where my elderly mother lives. For three days after Hurricane Helene all roads in the west of the state were closed due to flooding, damage, debris, landslides, downed bridges, and fallen trees and power lines. Our family was unable to communica...

Editor, If you knew Shirley Azzopardi as I have known her, over the years, you would know her as a person of exceptional character, personal strength, and perseverance. She is, in my opinion, the kind of person we would be lucky to have in the Montana Legislature to represent all of us, even those of us w...

Editor, Shirley Azzopardi, who is running for District 13 in the Montana House of Representatives, has all the qualities I want in a political candidate—integrity,  common sense, knowledge and perseverance. Having known Shirley for many years, I have seen her handle complex situations both pers...

For 23 years Robert G. Natelson served as Professor of Law at the University of Montana.  Professor Natelson is one of America’s best known constitutional scholars and author, whose constitutional research has been cited repeatedly by justices at the US Supreme Court, federal appeals courts, and a...

Editor, Truth in advertising should apply to these letters. For example last week a Senate District 3 representative decried CI 128 saying its language gives blanket immunity to abortion providers for malpractice, etc. If he would read what he wrote - and was printed, the cited bill clearly does not...

Editor, The viewing public is inundated with ad after ad after ad urging any sane person to vote for enshrining abortion into the Montana Constitution. What is striking is that the proponents only bring up time, after time, after time that dastardly pro-lifers are cruel and awful human beings for ignoring...

Editor, My Montana education taught me that rights go hand in hand with responsibilities. For instance, the right to vote includes the responsibility to be an informed voter. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court established a woman’s legal right to abortion. The pivotal question: When does life begin?...

This fall, we have the opportunity to send an experienced and fair-minded judge to the Montana Supreme Court. District Court Judge Dan Wilson has the background, courtroom experience and temperament to be an excellent justice. Prior to serving for the last eight years as a district court judge, he was a pros...

Editor, Proponents of CI-128 frame the initiative as the only way to protect abortion rights. But let’s be clear: Montanans already have strong protections for abortion under our state constitution. Since the Armstrong v. State case in 1999, Montana’s Supreme Court held that the state Constitu...