Montana Supreme Court named to Judicial “Hellhole” watchlist

“The Montana Supreme Court once again finds itself on the Judicial Hellholes Watch List,” said Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association.
Every year, the American Tort Reform Foundation releases a Judicial Hellholes report about various abuses within the civil justice system, focusing primarily on jurisdictions where courts have been out of balance. For the second year in a row, the Montana Supreme Court was listed on the reports Watch List with six other courts. According to the report, a court lands on this list due to their histories of abusive litigation or troubling developments.

“The (Montana) Supreme Court improperly asserted itself in a nearly 30-year old matter governed by federal law. In doing so, the court turned the appropriate preemption of state law upside down. It also has developed a pension for expanding liability and unduly limiting defenses in product liability cases. Finally, the Foundation said it looks to the Montana Supreme Court to provide guidance on the constitutionality of the state’s limit on punitive damages addressing the current uncertainty. The court must issue a definitive ruling upholding the statute’s constitutionality.”
The 2018 – 2019 Judicial Hellholes report shines its brightest spotlight on nine jurisdictions, courts or legislatures that have earned reputations as Judicial Hellholes. Some are known for welcoming litigation tourism or as hotbeds for asbestos litigation, and in all of them state leadership seems eager to expand civil liability.

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