Eight Montana media organizations, including Montana Free Press, have petitioned to join a lawsuit concerning back-channel communications between Montana legislators, lobbyists and stakeholders during the drafting of bills.
The lawsuit stems from legislative staff redacting details about who state lawmakers are consulting with while drafting bills. That information began being blacked out in September following a court ruling shielding the communications of Republican Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, from voters who sued over the Legislature’s redrawing of political districts in 2023.
The news outlets argue that the Legislature took the court order favoring the Kalispell senator in a specific case too far, violating public access to back-channel communications on bills — a right established by court order in 1995, reports the Montana Free Press. More broadly, the media petitioners argue that by redacting the information, legislators are violating the right-to-know provisions of the state Constitution.
“The Montana Constitution is unambiguous. ‘No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or …