What the Missoula Mountain Water case means for other Montana property owners
The recent decision by the Montana Supreme Court in the Mountain Water case, in which the Court reversed itself from an earlier decision, has set new precedents that weaken the property rights for all Montanans. It’s apparent to us that the decision was more politically motivated than grounded in the law—and we’re not alone, Justice Jim Rice described the Court’s conduct as “apparently hell-bent on condemnation” in his dissenting opinion.
This is an example of why Montana’s Supreme Court is ranked so poorly nationally. Each time it reverses itself—and it does so often, hundreds of times in the last two decades—it creates more uncertainty about what the law really is. And when the Court is viewed as a political animal—active in creating law rather than...