Not content merely to harass Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen with a bogus 41-count ethics charge in retaliation for his representation of the state legislature in a 2021 legal battle over judicial reform legislation (as previously reported here), the left-of-center Montana Supreme Court — through the attorney discipline apparatus it controls — is proposing a 90-day suspension of Knudsen’s law license. It does so two weeks before Election Day, and Knudsen, a Republican, is running for re-election. Not surprisingly, Knudsen’s Democratic opponent is using the disciplinary proceedings against Knudsen as a campaign issue. How convenient.
The state supreme court’s vindictive motivation is evident by the timing of the proposed discipline, and the fact that in May 2022 “a previously appointed special prosecutor had recommended a different sanction — only a private admonition,” according to the Daily Montanan.
Judges are supposed to be impartial and free of bias. In Montana, however, issues involving attorney discipline are decided by a hearing panel appointed by the state supreme court, to resolve charges brought by a prosecutor also appointed by the state supreme court, regarding the alleged breach of ethical rules also promulgated by the state supreme court.
Now, in a long-running separation of powers dispute between the activist state supreme court and the Republican-controlled Montana legislature (summarized here and here), the court’s hand-picked lackeys are proposing to punish the state’s elected attorney general for simply doing his job — advocating on behalf of the state legislature. The Montana Supreme Court, described by one
