Fitzpatrick wrong to protect liberal judges

In a recent op-ed, Rep. John Fitzpatrick rushed to defend Montana’s broken judicial election system dismissing conservative reforms as “malignant” threats to independence. But let’s cut through the spin: this is just another establishment hack protecting the system that keeps power in the hands of partisan liberals. Ironically, these “malignant” threats were support by Fitzpatrick’s own son, Representative Steve Patrick who serves as the House Majority Leader.

First, a quick reality check on Fitzpatrick himself. For more than 20 years, Fitzpatrick made his living shilling for corporate special interests, including leading the fight to overturn a voter-passed ban on cyanide heap-leach mining—a process Montanans rejected because of its devastating environmental risks. Now he’s carrying water for the trial lawyers’ association, shielding a judiciary where judges scrub their Democrat donor histories and lie about past party ties to dupe voters.

Let’s be clear: most Montanans have never made a single political contribution, yet our state’s judiciary is filled with longtime Democrat donors. And we’re supposed to believe that this doesn’t affect their rulings? We’re supposed to accept that individuals who ran as partisan candidates, held office under a party banner, or donated consistently to one party suddenly shed all their party loyalties the moment they put on a robe?

Honesty demands we admit the obvious, Montana’s judiciary is controlled by liberals. This is the same judiciary that declared the Second Amendment does not apply on college campuses. The same judiciary that waved away conflicts-of-interest when ruling on cases brought by their own employees. The same judiciary that hid emails from the public even as they demanded transparency from elected officials. That isn’t equal justice under law—it’s ideology trumping fairness.

Fitzpatrick wants Montanans to believe that any attempt to address this imbalance is an attack on judicial independence. But what independence exists when the bench is stocked with partisan liberals who conceal their political histories from voters? What fairness exists when judges hold one set of standards for themselves and another for everyone else?

Conservative judicial reform efforts were not “malignant” plots—they were a recognition of something obvious to ordinary Montanans: that our courts are not neutral, and that the people deserve honesty from those who ask for their votes. Fitzpatrick spent decades protecting the interests of powerful corporations. It’s no surprise he’s now shielding a judiciary that protects entrenched political power instead of the rights of everyday Montanans.

By: Jake Eaton

Editor’s note: Jake Eaton is an entrepreneur, investor, and Republican political consultant based in Billings, MT.  Mr. Eaton is an investor in the parent company of this site.